


Stepbrothers

by RainXandXBows



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe- Stepbrothers, Anxiety, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Nightmares, Slow Burn, Smut, fluff kinda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainXandXBows/pseuds/RainXandXBows
Summary: Summary? I'm pretty sure the title and tags sum it up.





	1. Church Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic on Ao3, but not my first fic..I've written others. The fandom I was previously part of had a lot of step-sibling relationship fics for some reason. So when I came here I thought, "maybe I should write one.."
> 
> Anyway hope you like it..
> 
> It's NOT incest but if you don't like it don't read it.

There was ice in the air itself. Whipping across their faces. Snow threatened to fall, but nothing came. Grey skies, frigid chill, and harsh wind chapped their skin as they stood in the graveyard.

'Why six feet?' He wondered. 'Why bury her at all? She liked the river. We should have sent her off in a boat.'

Solemn expressions were worn by them all. Only his dear sister let tears fall on her cold, rosy, cheeks.

" _Why, Tyler? Why weren't you there? You could have saved her. You could have saved her._ "

Their forlorn faces turned to anger as they looked at him and shook their heads. Fear weaved its way into his body, making him colder than he felt before.

" _I'm sorry! I should have been there! I'm so, so, sorry! Please_!" He wept, and pleaded, but they kept coming towards him. Closing in on him as they trapped him. He fell to the ground and buried his head in his hands. " _I'm sorry. I'M SORRY!_ "

"I'M SORRY!" He yelled out in his sleep. Suddenly awakening from his horrific nightmare. He felt hands trying to grab him and calm him, but their effort was weak, and they gave up as he fought back. It took him a second or two for him to find reality, but when he did he saw his brother. His face was riddled with fear and tears.

"T-Tyler... a-are you o-ok?" He asked with a shaky breath. His heart sank to the floor as he saw his brother's terrified eyes. He swiftly scrambled across his bed and held onto his younger brother for dear life.

"I'm sorry Zack. It was just a dream. I just had a stupid, bad dream, that's all," he rocked back and forth as his brother let out a quiet sob.

"Y-You were yelling, and... I-I tried to wake you up, b-but-"

"I know, I know, it's ok. I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Please just go back to sleep everything will be ok now," he smiled at his dear sibling, and helped him back into his bed across the room.

He couldn't fall back asleep after that. Knowing that if he did, he would dream the nightmare again and cause more tears to fall from his brother's eyes... and he couldn't have that.

  
*********

  
"I smell pancakes!" Tyler's dad chirped in a singsong voice as his jumped of the last step of the stairs. Tyler smiled gently at his fathers enthusiasm as he flipped another pancake over to cook.

"You're mighty cheery today," Tyler stated, smiling at the lighthearted mood the family was in this morning. Maddy had given him a hug, and Jay begged to help cook breakfast. It was his request that they had pancakes this morning.

"Of course! It's Sunday today! Church day!" His father exclaimed with a bright smile and starry eyes. Tyler's smile dropped, and his eyes drifted over to his brother who stared at his father with a stern look plastered on his face.

"Must we go today, dad?" Zack whined, and rolled his eyes.

"Of course! We have to go every week!" He said a bit shocked at his sons lack of interest. It wasn't that they didn't like church. They just didn't like why their father liked church.

"Zack, don't argue. Dads right, we should go every week," Tyler said firmly.

"Fine, whatever," Zack relented and went back to reading his comic book. Tyler felt a tug on his t-shirt from a tiny hand that was sitting on top of the counter.

"Ty, I think you burn the pans-cake," Jay said with a sad frown, and Tyler quickly remembered he was cooking food again.

"OH NOOOO!" He said over dramatically which made a smile force its way onto Jay's face. "What are we gonna do Jay? We will never get to eat it if i burnt it!"

"It ok, Ty. We can cook more," Jay just smiled and grabbed Tyler's shoulder to console his hysterical brother. Tyler smiled and ruffled his hair.

"That's good thinkin' little bro! Your just too smart sometimes."

Their dad just smiled at his children, and Zack just rolled his eyes again at his ridiculous older brother, but considering they had lost their mother a year ago, they were doing ok.

  
************

  
"I just don't get it!" Zack threw his arms up. "What is it about her that he likes?" Tyler hated this conversation, but he knew his brother needed to vent, so he went along with it.

"I-I guess she's kinda pretty," he tried to stick up for his dad, but the words almost made him vomit. He didn't like her either.

"What?! Who's side are you on? Pretty? Are you serious? What are you-"

"Zack, you know very well that I don't like her as much as you do, but what can we do about it? It's dads life. Of course, I'll be heartbroken, and of course I worry about her character, but maybe we just haven't gotten to know her like dad has." Tyler could see tears rimming his brother's eyes, and he suddenly regretted everything he said. "No, no please don't cry. Look, I'm sorry. Your right she has a strange past. We can't trust her. I agree with you," Tyler recoiled. Zack looked at Tyler as though he didn't believe him, but dropped the subject completely. They continued to get ready for church and headed downstairs when their dad said it was time to go.

 

*************

  
Tyler was confused. He usually was when Mr. White gave the sermon. Or 'Father White', as he so often corrects Tyler. He hated that. Calling them 'Father'... they weren't his father, nor were they God himself. He just stuck to Mr. White and Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was funny, and he talked more about things from the Bible and made sense of them. Mr. White just ranted on about 'thy devil is upon us!' and 'heaven is for those who haveth no sin' or whatever, and never opened the Bible at all. 'Aren't we all sinners though?' He pondered as the sermon came to an end. Tyler just shook off his imminent migraine, and followed his father to the other side of the church with his siblings in tow.

"Laura! How nice to see you!" His father beamed. Tyler could _feel_ Zack roll his eyes behind him.

"It's nice to see you too, how are the Joseph's today?" She asked politely. The boys just smiled weakly and avoided her gaze. Madison spoke up and started to explain how they had pancakes this morning. Laura listened with great interest, and Tyler noticed Jay running off to play with Laura's youngest daughter, Abby. After a while Maddy, and Laura's other child, Jordan started to talk about which was better, pancakes or waffles. Laura and his dad just started conversing among themselves leaving him and his brother in awkward silence.

"So no Ashley today?" Chris asked a bit concerned.

"No, she's here, she just stepped outside for a second. She said she needed some air," Laura just smiled. Tyler felt bad for her two oldest kids. They both had pretty bad anxiety. Ashley didn't have it as bad a her oldest brother, though. Tyler didn't even know the older boy's name, let alone what he looked like, but he had heard Laura briefly explain that he 'didn't like crowds'.

"Maybe we should go outside too, dad," Tyler interjected just to get out of this awkward situation. Zack nodded hastily in agreement.

"Oh ok, go ahead I'll be out in a second," Chris replied. That was not what they wanted, but Tyler was desperate to get out of the situation. He scooted past Zack who was scowling at their father, and burst through the heavy oak doors out to the warm August air. He spotted Ashley who was talking to Abby and Jay. He waited a second before deciding to go get Jay. As he got closer he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Ashley," Tyler greeted quickly.

"Hey," she looked down with a tint of pink on her face. Tyler just blamed the heat for her flush face.

"Jay, you ready to go soon?" Tyler asked, directing his attention to his little brother. He just nodded in reply and then turn back to Abby. They ran off over to a small patch of grass leaving Ashley and Tyler in awkward silence. "Sooo..." Tyler had no idea what to say, as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Heard you won last nights game. That seems cool," Ashley smiled as she came up with something to talk about. 

"Oh," Tyler laughed nervously, "yeah, how'd you hear that?"

"I guess your Dad had sent my Mom a video of you scoring the winning point," she explained. Tyler couldn't believe his father. 'When did he get her phone number?'

"Yeah, it was pretty cool I guess. A lot of pressure for sure," Tyler rubbed the back of his neck.

"I can't imagine."

Tyler did not want awkward silence again so he just asked the first question that popped into his mind.

"So you were a freshman right?" She blushed.

"Yeah."

"So you're four-"

"Fifteen," she corrected him right away. "I turned fifteen in May. How old are you?"

"I turn seventeen in December," he informed. "So you're homesch-" he was cut off by his fathers voice.

"Tyler! Jay! We're leaving!" Chris yelled over to him. His voice had a hint of irritation, and Tyler was a little worried. He waved goodbye to Ashley, and then grabbed Jays hand as they entered the parking lot. When they got in the car Tyler could see Maddy in the back cringing at the tension. Usually Zack calls shotgun, but he was sitting in the back behind the drivers seat hiding from their father. Tyler knew his dad was mad. Something had happened. So he just sat quietly in the front seat waiting for the outburst.

"What gives you the right?" Chris asked, calm at first.

Silence.

"What gives you the right, Zack?!" He spoke up, still waiting for a response. Tyler just stared out his window watching the buildings pass by.

"I didn't say anything wrong," Zack stated, barely above a whisper.

"When I invite someone over, you are to show respect, and be polite!" He yelled, finally reaching his limit.

"Why her?! Why do you have to have her family over?! I cannot believe that you like her! She was a whore! And she did drugs! And-"

"Stop! Stop it right now! How dare you judge someone from their past! From rumors! She-"

"Rumors?! She told you herself she was-"

"Zachary Joseph, just stop! You are grounded because of your lack of respect, and your-"

"Dad!"

"Do not interrupt me," he continued to to yell out punishments, and Zack continued to fight, argue, and bicker. Tyler's brain was throbbing in his skull. He wanted out! As they pulled into the driveway all three of the silent siblings darted out of the car into the house. Maddy ran to the living room and quickly turned on the TV to drown out the fighting that continued as Zack and their father came in. Jay ran off into his room to play. Tyler was going to ignore the yelling and start making dinner, but his headache was getting worse. He had to step in.

"THATS IT!" Everyone froze at his outburst, staring at him expectantly. "Zach I don't know what you said or what you did, but you need to stop yelling and take your punishment!"

"I didn't-" Zack tried to defend himself.

"I don't care, go to our room, I'll call you down when dinner is ready," Tyler folded his arms and wore the expression his mother used to wear when she meant business. Zack held back from full on bursting into tears, and ran up the stairs to their room.

" _Crap_!" Chris said under his breath as he glanced at his watch. "I gotta get ready, watch the kids for me, yeah?"

"What? Why? Where are you going?" Tyler asked as his heart sank. His father acted as though Tyler didn't just end a massive argument.

"I'm going out," he smiled rocking back and forth like a kid. "I have date!"

Tyler froze. 'What?'

"What?" He asked out loud, hurt evident in his voice.

"With Laura, I asked if she'd like to have dinner tonight, and she said yes!" He beamed, ignoring his sons brimming tears. Tyler didn't know what to say. He didn't want to get into a fight like his brother.

"Who is gonna watch her kids?"

"Her oldest son," he headed up the stairs and started to dress himself up. Tyler followed him with his arms crossed.

"Do you even know her oldest son's name? She never talks about him!" Tyler is starting to get a bit frustrated. "And you just expected us to eat dinner alone? What if I accidentally start a fire!"

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourself Tyler, you have many times before," his father rolled his eyes as he combed his hair perfectly. "I don't know about her oldest son, though, maybe she'll talk about him tonight," he smiled gently at his son, knowing he is worried. "Tyler, I know you hate change, but please have an open mind. I really like her!" He pleaded. Tyler didn't know what to say. He was shocked. He just nodded and watched as his father got in his car and drove away. 


	2. Responsibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I use real names.. hope that's not weird. I love Tyler's parents, and Josh's parents.. this is all just fiction
> 
> Enjoy... :]

"Mom, can you help me with this?" He asked finally exasperated with his schoolwork.

"Yeah, honey, what's wrong?"

"I don't understand any of this," he said handing her his English literature textbook. Immediately after he let go of the book, he felt a sharp pain in his jaw. He reached up to feel his teeth, only to find that one of his molars was wiggling. But he was sixteen, he shouldn't have wiggly teeth.

"Oh! This is Shakespeare honey! I thought you liked Shakespeare?" She asked him handing back his book.

"It is?" He asked and turned his attention back to his homework. Everything was gibberish and he couldn't read any of it. His tooth started to shoot pain throughout his face again. He grabbed at the problem tooth and it fell out into his hand. Pain engulfed his entire head and he screamed out in agony. Blood came pouring out of the open wound in his mouth. He stared at the tooth that just came out and saw that it was decaying and almost black inside. He grabbed for his mother, but he realized it wasn't his mother. It was Laura.

"Oh? Why did you pull your tooth out? You shouldn't lose your teeth at such a young age," she looked concerned and yet she acted as though she could care less. She picked up a magazine and started reading it as he fell to the ground, writhing, as blood continued to pour from his mouth.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" He yelled out. Suddenly awake.

His dreams were getting strange, and he was a little scared. After a moment of terror he looked to see his dad walking in through the front door. He remembered that he fell asleep on the couch waiting for his dad to come home. He slowly got angrier the sleepier he got. Now, realizing that he had waited so long that he fell asleep, his fury was hard to contain.

"It's one in the morning," Tyler stated. His arms were crossed and he sat on the couch in complete darkness. His father jumped at the sudden voice, and whipped around to see Tyler staring at him.

"Oh my goodness, Tyler you scared me," he laughed, sounding out of breath from his momentary terror. Tyler just continued to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. Chris turned back around and locked the front door. "You should have been in bed by now," he stated. Tyler couldn't see the expression on his face in the darkness, but he figured his dad was kind of irritated.

"How can I sleep when I'm here watching three kids _by myself_? I'm terrified of being home alone, you know that!" Tyler whisper-yelled so that he wouldn't wake the kids. Tears starting to well up in his eyes. "How do I know you're ok? You never told me what time you were coming back, and you-"

"Tyler Joseph you're not my _parent_. You don't have to-" Chris snapped back at him, only until being cut off by Tyler.

"NO _DAD_! You're _my_ parent! You're supposed to be waiting for me to get home at 1AM. Not the other way around. Why does it feel like your pushing the responsibility on me?" He cried. He had tried to hold the tears back, but these pent up feelings were building in him ever since his father met _her_. "I felt so _bad_ when mom died, I wanted to help you as much as I could. I couldn't stand to see any of you sad. So I put aside my grief to _help_ you, not _become_ you. I feel like I didn't only take the place of mom, but I also took your place. I hate it!" He sobbed. Chris shook his head at his broken son and scooped him up in a bone crushing hug.

"Tyler... you were never supposed to take the place of anyone, and I'm sorry that you've felt this way for that long. I've just been dealing with other things like work, the bills,-"

"And Laura.." Tyler pulled away from his father and crossed his arms again, looking down at the floor.

"..yes.. and Laura," his father admitted. "My point is, I guess I haven't been paying very close attention, and I'm sorry." He apologized, holding Tyler's shoulders so he would face him.

"Ok," Tyler whispered and nodded his head.

"And maybe one day.. maybe.. you'll have mother again soon.." Chris said hesitantly, afraid of Tyler's reaction, and mortified by the way he put it.

"What?" Tyler looked at him in horror with wide eyes.

"I'm just saying if things go well with Laura-"

"No stop! _Stop_... I don't wanna hear it," his heart thudded in his chest with fear. Was his dad _really_ already thinking of _marriage_?! He started to run up the stairs, his dad following close behind.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like she'd be _replacing_ your mother..maybe she'd just give you a chance to be a teenager for once, Tyler."

"No! You did this! If you actually acted like a father instead of flirting in _church_ , and constantly asking _me_ to make dinner because you're not 'good at it', then maybe I would have a chance to be a teenager," Tyler snapped back with the harshest tone he could muster.

"Then all the responsibility would be on me!"

"Yes!.. Because you're our FATHER! You are _supposed_ to take responsibility!" Tyler yelled accidentally, causing Maddy to peek out her door with misty eyes. Tyler's heart sank. He quickly walked over to Maddy giving her a hug. "I'm sorry I woke you... come on, let's go back to bed," Tyler grabbed her hand. He looked back to where his father was standing only to see him entering his room without any other words.

Tyler didn't know how to feel. He was mad, and sad at the same time.

He put Maddy back in her bed and sang softly to her so she would fall back to sleep. After he ensured that the two kids were in dreamland, he headed back to his room. Walking through the hallway, he had to pass his fathers room to get to his, and as he did so he heard soft cries coming from inside. He felt his anger suddenly melt away from hearing his fathers soft sobs. He realized that he truly had no idea how his father felt about all that's happened. So Tyler decided then and there, that he would try to support his father in his decisions. He would try. Even if he eventually decided to ask that woman to marry him, but he hoped to god it wouldn't come to that.

  
**************

  
Cartoons blaring in the living room. Homework shoved into backpacks. Tyler making lunches. It must be Monday.

Tyler gently placed everyone's lunch into their backpacks, not forgetting his own, and went about pouring cereal for everyone. Maddy was usually always awake before the boys so she could use the bathroom first and then come downstairs to watch her cartoons. Then Jay would come down eat his cereal, and if there was time, he'd join Maddy in the living room. Zack stumbled down the stairs, still very drowsy, and then they all left for school. The schools weren't too far away. Only a few blocks.

Once Tyler and Zack walked the two younger kids to the elementary school they came to the crossroads where Zack would go North to the Middle School, and Tyler would go East to the High school. Next year, though, Zack can walk with Tyler to the High school. That thought made Tyler smile a bit. He hated walking alone. He hated _being_ alone.

"What are you smiling about?" Zack teased while waiting for the crosswalk sign to show a little yellow walking dude. "Can't wait to see _Jenna_?" Tyler rolled his eyes at his little brother.

"No.. I was thinking how nice it will be when your in high school next year," Tyler replied, but Zack just rolled his eyes.

"Suuuure.."

Tyler just shook his head. Zack's crosswalk sign lit up first and he waved goodbye as he headed down the next road. Tyler waited for another minute or two and then the sign told him he could walk. Things like this was just routine. Just mundane actions that made Tyler's world slow down and turn hazy. Being alone bothered him. He blamed it on his mothers death. ' _Maybe I was traumatized_ ' he pondered.

The school came into view and suddenly his feeling of being alone was whisked away by a very loud voice booming across the parking lot.

"HEY TY! Wait up!"

"Hey, Brendon," Tyler smirked as Brendon ran up next to him, keeling over, completely out of breath. "Dude you need to work out more or something. Running, like, 6 yards across the parking lot should not be that taxing."

Brendon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Taxing? What's that mean?"

Tyler threw his head back and laughed at his ridiculous friend. They both walked into the school, and tried their best to learn from those aliens society calls 'teachers'.

  
*************

  
"Wow, so does he plan to, like, marry her?" Brendon asked while eating _Tyler's_ cup of applesauce.

"I don't know. I personally don't care. I'm planning to run away anyway," Tyler shrugged. Not caring when Brendon picked up half of his sandwich. Brendon just gave him the 'Really?' look.

"Come on man, it can't be that bad to have a step-mother."

"She has _four_ other kids! There'd be _TEN_ of us in the house!" Tyler exclaimed. Brendon's eyes got wide and he nodded. "Not to mention her kids are practically the same ages as my siblings. Her daughter is a little bit older than Zack, maybe by like nine months. Her youngest son is like, I don't know, eleven? Super close to Maddy. Her youngest daughter is eight."

"Jay is only six.." Brendon reasoned. Tyler just rolled his eyes.

"Close enough," he shook his head, feeling exasperated.

"Wait.. so.. you said youngest son.. how olds her oldest son?" Brendon asked. Still mooching off of Tyler's food.

"I don't know! That's the thing she never talks about him. We all know he exists, but she never said his name, or anything else about him. I wouldn't be surprised if he was pretty freaking close to my age though!"

"Interesting.." Brendon held his chin, and looked up in thought. Like the 'thinking' emoji. He looked like he was about to say something, but the bell cut him off. They both wordlessly packed up and headed back to their lockers. Before they went separate ways, however, Tyler called out to his friend.

"Hey Bren! Remind me to bring you an extra lunch," he smirked as Brendon nearly fell over from laughing so hard.

"You were talking so much I didn't think you noticed," he gasped out, wiping stray tears from the force of laughter.

"Yeah, I noticed.." Tyler shook his head, and started heading down the hallway. Before he got to far away Brendon yelled out to him once more.

"Hey Ty! I want strawberry jam on my PB&J next time, not grape!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kinda short... I think the next chapter is longer. I'll try to update pretty quick.


	3. Dinner

He contemplated wearing a bow tie. He had a couple of them. One was red, one was blue, and he even had rainbow one, but that would be a little ridiculous. He had black one too, he had gotten that one for his moms funeral. He never wore it for anything else.

In the end he decided that wearing a bow tie would give the impression that he wanted to look his best for tonight. Of course, he wanted to look nice, but he didn't want to impress anyone. So, he just opted for a light blue button down shirt, and his best black skinny jeans.

Earlier that day, when they heard that they were going to be having 'guests' over for dinner, Tyler had to get the blunt end of his brothers yelling and anger, and then console him after when he burst into tears. That was kind of routine with Zack. He'd get angry and take it out on Tyler, and then feel super bad and cry to him after. Tyler just learned to deal with it, and help him through it. Now, though, Zack was getting dressed up, just like his older brother. Begrudgingly, of course, but doing it nonetheless. Tyler had helped Maddy pick out a cute outfit, and Jay had insisted that he could dress himself. When he revealed his outfit to everyone with a 'ta-da', Tyler noticed that his pants were backwards and his collar was all messed up. They all giggled at the young boy, and Tyler fixed his collar and told him to switch his pants around.

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"Because your pants are on backwards," Tyler smiled when the boy looked down at his pants.

"No they're not," Jay said shoving his hands in the back pockets that were in the front.

"Look," Tyler pointed. "Where's the zipper?"

"Right he-" he cut himself off. He craned his neck backwards and saw that his pants were, indeed, on backwards. He turned around with a pout, and went to go fix them. Tyler just chuckled at the boy, and continued getting ready. In the middle of fixing his hair he heard his dad yelling his name. He quickly ran down the stairs to see his dad frantically running around the kitchen trying to avoid burning everything. He had promised Tyler that he would cook the dinner. Especially since he had invited all of Laura's kids too. He didn't want to put any more pressure on Tyler.

Tyler had also learned that Laura was going to try to get her oldest son to come over.

"Did you ever find out what his name was? How old he is? Anything?" Tyler asked, irritation lacing his voice. He was tired of all these mysteries.

"Well, she told me his name is Josh, but that's about it. I think he's around your age... she kind of made it sound like he is still in school," his father shrugged, just as bewildered as Tyler over the matter.

Tyler had thought about it all day.

' _Why did she hardly ever talk about him? Is he a criminal?_ ' Tyler couldn't figure it out. He wouldn't be surprised if he was a criminal. Laura used to be-

"TYLER!" His father yelled, snapping his fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts with a jump.

"Huh?.. oh sorry."

"Are you ok? I was calling you and you were completely zoned out," he asked, fear and concern all over his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.. sorry.. deep in thought I guess."

Chris just nodded slowly, still concerned. It faded as soon as he heard the pot of noodles boiling over on the stove. He ran over to it, turning it off and then giving a pleading look to his son. "I know I said I would cook tonight, but please, I'm horrible at this."

Tyler repressed a laugh, and rolled his eyes. He helped his father prepare an amazing spaghetti dinner for potentially _ten_ people. Zack had helped set the table, and he had pulled out an extra, little, card table for the kids so there was enough space. Especially since the dinning table only fit six people.

Six o'clock was approaching, and Tyler found himself getting nervous.

' _If worse comes to worst, then I can always go into my room,_ ' Tyler said to himself. Practically preparing for an all out war. Tyler knew that this was a big step for his dad's relationship with Laura, or whatever the heck it was that they were doing. Merging the families, eating dinner together, it was almost like they were testing to see how everyone got along. Tyler wanted to be nice, he wanted to try, but he just didn't know if he could. Especially to this _Josh_ guy, who never comes to church. Tyler understood that he had anxiety, but so did Ashley, and she still comes.

_Knock knock knock_

The sound jolted Tyler out of his thoughts. His dad was still in the kitchen, finishing dessert, so Tyler realized that he was going to have to answer it.

With shaky hands he unlocked the door and plastered a huge, fake, smile on his face before pulling it open. Out of no where his dad appeared from behind him greeting everyone first, which made the nervous boy relax a bit.

"Hi Tyler!" Abby said as she ran in. Before he could even reply she was over talking to Jay.

Ashley came in next, and she gave Tyler a shy little wave before standing next to her mom again, who was right behind her.

"Hey Tyler! How are you?" Laura asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Oh, I'm ok, how are you Ms. Dun?" He replied politely.

"I'm great, but honey, call me Laura!" She giggled and turned back to Chris who was escorting the rest of the family in. Tyler tried not to gag when she called him 'honey', but he quickly remembered, ' _Be NICE_!'

The anticipation was killing him. Even though this was all happening within seconds, he still had yet to see this mysterious boy that Laura never talked about. Jordan came in first, he seemed nervous too, but smiled brightly when he saw Maddy talking to Ashley over by the couch. He shuffled over to them once he had greeted Tyler and his dad. Tyler was watching them for a second when his fathers voice drew him back into focus.

"Why hello Josh! It's so nice to finally meet you!"

He was met by silence and Tyler leaned over so he could finally get a glimpse of this guy. What he saw didn't really surprise him much. His messy excuse for hair was cotton candy blue, and he had gauges in his ears. Not to mention a nose ring as well, and what looked like the beginning of a sleeve tattoo. He was wearing a black 'Pierce the Veil' t-shirt with what looked like UFOs abducting people on the front. His black skinny jeans were riddled with rips and studs, and there was a silver chain hanging from the belt loops. To top it all off he wore solid black converse, with rainbow shoelaces. Tyler smirked triumphantly at his awesome prediction of how punk rock Josh was going to be. Although, he didn't predict blue hair. That was a bit of a shock.

"He's.... shy, I guess," she tried to make up an excuse why Josh didn't greet Chris back, but it didn't seem very convincing. Especially when Josh just rolled his eyes and turned to stare at nothing.

"Well I guess we can get ready to eat then! I hope you all brought your appetites," Chris cheered, brushing off Josh's cold shoulder. Tyler just continued to smirk, knowing exactly how this night was gonna go.

Tyler stuck his arm out to the boy and smiled brightly, with a hint of sass, because he knew Josh wouldn't except it. And just as he thought, Josh just stared at his outstretched hand, and then slowly moved his eyes up to meet Tyler's. His face was stone cold, and he looked like he was on the verge of rolling his eyes again.

"Tyler, nice to meet you!" Tyler held his hand there, and kept his gaze. After about thirty seconds of nothing Tyler reached out and pulled Josh's hand out his pocket, and then shook it gingerly. His smile grew as the boy flinched at first and then glared at him. When Tyler let go, a shy voice came from behind him.

"Hey, um Tyler? Can I.. uh.. sit by you?" Ashley asked and then blushed immediately afterward. Tyler's mood faltered a little and he felt awkward suddenly.

"Oh, uh, yeah sure Ashley. You can..um," he tried to figure out a way to have her sit by him, but not too close. "You can sit on the end here, I'll sit on this side by Zack. My dad can sit on the other end, and your mom and Josh can sit on that side," he arranged the seating, and it turned out so that Josh was sitting in front of him. It worked out perfectly. Ashley just smiled and nodded in agreement with the seating arrangement.

Chris and Laura came out with the food and placed them on the tables, giving the four younger kids plastic silverware so there were no accidental injuries while the adults weren't paying attention. Everyone had gathered around for grace, and when everyone's heads were down and eyes were closed, Tyler peeked to see Josh with wide open eyes staring directly at him. Almost looking into his soul. Tyler felt a spark of anger as he saw that Josh clearly didn't do grace either. So he just closed his eyes tightly, and then when they all said 'Amen', Tyler said it as loud as he could, staring back at Josh with equal intensity.

They all went on eating, and conversing. The kids were enjoying each other's company, laughing and eating like civilized people. Whereas the teenagers were quite opposite. Zack had his head leaning into his fist as he had to listen to his father talking to Laura. His eyes seemed like they were going to fall out from the constant rolling they were doing. Ashley was barely eating, most likely do to her anxiety, and she hardly ever looked anyone in the eyes. And Tyler and Josh? They were having a glaring contest, apparently. Not really knowing the reason... just a mutual feeling of dislike between the two.

"So Zack... what do you plan to do after school?" Laura asked. Trying to get the teens to have conversation.

"I don't know," Zack stated, staring at his food, completely uninterested. Tyler saw him flinch a little before glaring at his dad. Tyler assumed he must have kicked his brother underneath the table, in a silent warning. But Zack still refused to talk, so Laura moved on.

"How about you, Tyler?"

"Oh well, I hope to get a basketball scholarship for college, and maybe I could even try to go pro," Tyler enthused. But his smile faded when he heard Josh scoff under his breath. He tried to push away the dejected feeling, and plastered a wicked smile on his face. "How bout you Josh? What are your plans after you graduate?" Tyler asked with ice in his tone.

Josh just _stared_. Not uttering a word. Tyler was beginning to wonder if Josh was mute.

After another thirty seconds, that felt like _hours_ , Laura spoke up.

"Josh plays the drums! I think he plans to be a musician one day. Right honey?" She asked carefully. Trying her best to get him to say something, _anything_ , but nothing ever came out. His eyes only grew bigger and he turned his head a little so he was staring at the black table cloth. Laura just had pure symphony on her face, and went on talking to Chris to change the subject. Josh had just gone back to scowling at his spaghetti.

Tyler was intrigued though. ' _How could he be a performer if he had anxiety?'_  He wondered. He could definitely picture Josh playing the drums. He sure did have the arms for it. Tyler had always wondered what it would be like to play music. He never really tried it. It was definitely a dream of Tyler's, to learn how to play instruments, but he never seemed to have time. Especially now since his mom was gone.

Tyler was jolted out of his thoughts when what looked like a slice of banana cream pie landed in front of him.

"Laura, you shouldn't have brought anything, I had made some cookies for dessert," his father explained, but looked grateful nonetheless.

"Well, we'll enjoy the cookies too! But this is a recipe from my grandmother. One of the best banana cream pies ever!" She mused.

Tyler pushed it around, but never even attempted to force a forkful into his mouth. He tried to repress the look of pure disgust as he stared at it. He glanced up for a split second, only to notice that Josh didn't have a pie in front of him.

"Too full, sweetie?" Laura asked, directing her question to Tyler. He cringed internally at the new word replacement for his name.

"Oh.. I mean no offense, but I really don't like bananas," he smiled weakly. Her face lit up and she covered her mouth as she almost spit it all out when she tried to talk while chewing. She laughed a couple of times before pointing to Josh.

"Neither does Josh! He can't even smell them without gagging," she laughed again, for some reason finding this funny. Tyler just returned her smile and pushed his plate away.

The night went on with more talking and the kids played in their room. Tyler, Zack, and Ashley all sat on the couch to play Smash Bros and Mario cart. Ashley had asked Josh if he wanted to play, but he just shook his head and pulled out his phone. Probably on instagram or something. Towards eleven o'clock, the kids were tired, and getting ready to say their goodbyes. Laura and Chris were still talking, and everyone was clearly trying to speed things along. However it was actually _Josh_ who _said_ something about it.

"Mama, can we go home now?" He asked quietly.

Tyler noticed that his voice was sort of scratchy and deep. He just smirked at the way he referred to his mother, but he could see that Josh was completely unfazed by it. Laura nodded and agreed. She said her goodbyes to everyone, and they all started to pile out. Tyler tried to say goodbye to Josh, but he was out of there and in his mothers car faster then Tyler could blink. Ashley had given him a quick hug before bolting out of the house and in the car with her brother. Chris had walked Laura to their car and made sure that they were safely down the road before coming back inside.

"Ok! I think that went pretty well, how bout you guys?" Chris chirped. Zack just rolled his eyes for the millionth time that night and muttered a 'I'm tired, goodnight,' before jogging up the stairs.

"I think it went great Daddy!' Jay smiled sleepily.

"Yeah, Daddy! I had a lot of fun," Maddy agreed and then smiled at her happy father. Jay yawned and Maddy spoke before Tyler could. "Alright, Jay, let's get ready for bed. Goodnight Tyler! Goodnight Daddy!"

Tyler smiled at his siblings and watched them ascend the stairs.

"So Tyler, things went ok with Josh huh?" Chris tried to sound hopeful, and Tyler laughed internally.

"Yeah, things went alright, I guess," Tyler shrugged, trying his best to support his dad.

"Cool," Chris nodded. That word sounded funny coming from his mouth, but Tyler smiled again anyway. "It's nice that you're able to be friends."

"Yeah, sure dad. I'll be off to bed now, have a goodnight," he waved.

Tyler rolled his eyes when his dad wasn't looking.

' _Yeah sure... 'friends'...that sounds like a great idea..._.not.'


	4. The Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why haven't I updated you may ask?.. well my best friend decided to get so sick she had to go to the hospital.. so that was scary.. and then as she was getting better, my long lost aunt decided to surprise us all with her presence. Sooooo LIFE IS HECKTIC HOLY CHALUPA'S!!!!
> 
> Hope this makes up for it.. 
> 
> ..maybe not..

The floor was kind of old and dirty looking. Even though there was an employee mopping a few feet away from him. He tried not to focus on it, and turn his attention back to his food, but he was lost in thought and couldn't stop veering towards it. His mind jumped around, and he had no real subject he was thinking about. He was scared, and angry. Happy, and sad. He was eating Taco Bell for goodness sakes, and yet depression washed over him in waves.

"Dude are you going to finish that?" Brendon asked him curiously. Tyler took a second to snap back into reality and then looked down at his half eaten chalupa.

"Uh, _yea_! What, you thought I was gonna let you have the rest?" Tyler asked, feigning offense.

"Well.. it's gonna get cold, dude," Brendon chuckled, but it dissipated when Tyler went right back to staring at the over-used tiles. "Hey, man, are you sure you're ok? You know you can vent to me anytime. I won't take it personally," Brendon smiled brightly at his downcast friend, and Tyler felt his heart melt at the gesture.

"Yea.. thanks Bren. I just..." he shook his head trying to find the right words. "My dad... it's just," he paused again. Tears were starting to burn behind his eyes and he didn't know why he was struggling to speak. Brendon just nodded for him to keep going. Silently telling him it was ok. "It's been, almost, two months now.. ya'know.. and I'm just scared he is.. I don't know.. falling in love with her, maybe? He has already mentioned marriage. I wouldn't be surprised if they were already engaged, and they just haven't told us yet." His voice started to get higher in volume the more frustrated he got. "And, I'm freaking out because, there is no way all ten of us are going to fit in either of our houses, which means we will have to move. And I don't want to move Brendon. I don't want to lose my childhood home. All my memories are there. My mother was there." Tears were streaming down his face and he had to let go. He needed to let this out. "I don't want to lose her Bren. I don't want to leave her."

Brendon had tears riming his eyelids, but he refused to let them fall.

"Ty,... I know it feels like that, but... but you'll always have the memory of her," he wasn't sure what else to say. He thought Tyler was mad at his father. He didn't realize it went this deep. Tyler just shook his head and wiped his tears away with his sleeve, laughing in the process.

"I know, it's stupid, I'm sorr-"

" _No_ , no Tyler it isn't stupid," he grabbed his friends hand and consoled him gently, fishing for what to say next. "Look.. I've never been through anything like this. Not that my life is peaches and cream, but I haven't had to go through a loss of a parent. I have no idea what to say, or how to make you feel better, but I know that your fears aren't stupid. What I was trying to say was.. no matter what happens, you'll always have her in your heart. A house, or even an object, even though it might remind you of her, it can't be the only thing you have left of her Ty. I don't even know if that makes sense. Probably made you feel worse," he huffed a humorless laugh, and decided it was his turn to stare at the floor.

"No Brendon. You always seem to cheer me up. Thank you." He smiled at his best friend. Tears brimming his eyes once more.

  
***********

  
"Joseph managed to redeem the ball. He's got it. He shoots... NOTHING BUT NET! There we go folks the Tigers have done it again!" An announcer informed through his microphone. The crowd cheered and hollered. Tyler and his teammates were celebrating their win. He looked up to see his family. His siblings were going wild, yelling and pumping their fists in the air. In the bleachers just above them, however, he saw his dad... kissing Laura.

Tyler had ran as fast as he could into the locker room, barely making it to a toilet. After seeing that he had felt nauseous and dizzy. He tried to keep his cool as the rest of his teammates were patting him on the back, and ruffling his hair. But the world was fuzzy suddenly. Tyler didn't usually get embarrassed from couples public affection. He never found it gross at all.

But this.

After Tyler had won the regional game. His father _kissed_ her. It wasn't even that big of a deal. But, there he is, in the boys locker room, emptying his lunch into the toilet. Maybe it was partly from the stress of the game, and seeing that just pushed him over the edge. Either way he knew, he would never be able to witness that action again, without feeling nauseous.

  
**********

  
So... there he was... feeling nauseous. They had went to a pizza place after the game to celebrate. Tyler hadn't noticed that Laura's kids were at the game until they were attacking him with praise once he got out of his uniform (excluding her oldest son, of course). Tyler had gotten to pick the place they were to meet at, and now they were all having fun at Dave and Busters. Except, until they all took a break from video gaming to sit around a table and eat. Tyler could barely look at his pizza as his father and his girlfriend were literally necking in front of everyone. Zack and Ashley ignored it and the littler kids didn't notice it at all, but Tyler couldn't eat. It shook him to the core.

Chris and Laura were whispering like teenagers, and all Tyler could do was glare. When Laura gasped and asked in hushed surprise if Chris was 'sure', Tyler knew something was up. He heard a quiet, 'I think it's time,' from his father, and he felt his stomach jump out of his body and tears flooded his eyes.

He knew what they were going to announce. He knew it. He _knew_ it.

"Kids, it's been such a great day! And Laura, and I think it's about time that we tell you." They both smiled at each other. Tyler felt his tears struggling to remain on the edge of his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall until he said it.

" _We're getting married_!" They both said in unison.

That was it. The tears spilled. Silence fell for a second. Maddy, Jay, and Abby all gasped and squealed out congratulations to their parents. Jordan and Ashley looked like they just died. Right there in their chairs. They were white as ghosts, and tears were building in Ashley's eyes. Zack burst out of his chair, and ran.. Tyler didn't even bother to look to see where he was going. He would have done the same and ran as far as his legs would have taken him, but his legs were weak and he didn't have any strength left. He felt weightless. Like he was about to turn into ash and dissipate in the wind. His father's and his now fiancé's smiles faded when Zack ran away, and Laura caught sight of Ashley's face. Laura held her daughter tight as she cried, and Chris got up to follow Zack.

No one even bothered to ask Tyler how he felt. Or console him as he cried.

He wondered how Josh will react.

  
*************

  
Tyler wasn't sure how, but Chris had managed to find Zack and convince him to come home. They all sat in the car. Complete silence engulfing them. Jay had fallen asleep along the way, and Maddy was playing with the toys she had won from D&B's.

When they arrived back home Tyler picked up his littlest brother and put him in bed. He eventually did the same with Maddy after she had gotten in her PJs. He sang her to sleep, and then went back downstairs to find a weeping Zack, and pleading Chris.

"I j-just don't understand d-dad!" Zack, forced out, "We were doing f-fine! Were _are_ doing fine! Why do you need this? Why do you n-need another wife? Did you even love mom?" He accused. Tyler had wondered that himself once too, but he knew that his father cared for her very much. They never fought. At least, Tyler had never seen them fight. And from his fathers offended expression he knew, that Zack's accusation was a bit extreme.

" _Of course I loved your mother_!" He emphasized. "But Zack, I fell in love again! I never thought I would have, but I did." He shook his head at his second son when he turned to cry even harder. "Zack, you must know I never intended to cause any of you _any_ pain! But I'd be causing a lot of pain on myself if I'd have to give her up! I truly do love her!"

Tyler didn't know that.

He did now.

"Never intended to cause us pain? Look at your other son!" He pointed to Tyler who was leaning against the wall. They both looked at him with pity in their eyes. Tyler didn't even notice his tear soaked t-shirt and face. He had been crying so much lately he had become accustomed to the feeling. "Your destroying both of us! Can't you see that neither of us want this! Do you honestly not care about either of our opinions?!"

Their fathers face got serious suddenly. "I've been struggling with so much lately Zack! Do you know how hard it is to be a single dad of four kids?!"

"No, I don't, but you know who might? TYLER! Because he has been our _real_ dad for the past year and a half, so maybe you should consider how _he_ feels about all of this!"

"I AM THINKING ABOUT TYLER! I'm thinking about all of you! The woman I love is a wonderful person who I can trust to watch my children, who all of you can trust! She'll cook, and clean and care for Maddy and Jay. Sure, yes, you'll have four more siblings, but isn't that a good thing? More help around the house! Bigger groups for family game night! We could have so much fun!" He was trying to make things sound nice, and happy. But Tyler's mind went straight to the punk jerk-off that he'd have to share a life with. Zack just rolled his eyes.

"Tyler can take care of us! He wants to take care of us, he's been doing it all this time. We just want you to stop acting like a kid and be our father again!"

"Love isn't childish, Zack," Chris shook his head. They were quiet for awhile until he spoke again, finally registering what his son just said. "Have you ever asked Tyler, how he felt about basically taking on the roll of mom?" Chris asked, a hint of disgust in his tone as Zack furrowed his eyebrows looking over at Tyler.

"Tyler?.. tell dad that we don't need another mom! Please!"

Tyler didn't know if his voice was even existent anymore. But he finally knew how he felt about the situation. And he was ready to end this.

"Dad... no one can replace my mother. I will never refer to Laura as that, she will always just be Laura to me. However," he hesitated a second, shifting his direction to Zack, "I am so incredibly tired of taking care of you Zack."

Zack was shocked. He looked like he was just witnessed an alien abduction.

"W-what?" His shaky voice pushed out.

"I love all of you so much, but for once in my life I would like to tell Brendon that yes, I can go to the party down the street, because for once I don't have to cook dinner, or babysit, or help with homework. Or maybe I'd like to have a girlfriend for once! I'm almost seventeen for Christ's sake, I'm tired of growing up so fast. Missing so many things just because my dad doesn't know how to be a dad," he saw his father get angry at that, but he kept going, "or because my brother is too much of a baby to help me once in awhile!" Zack wanted to say something but Tyler gave him no chance. "I finally feel like for once I can be free! I can be a kid! Maybe having a stepmother will be like lifting an elephant off my shoulders!" Tyler flipped a switch faster then they could blink, as he was talking to his dad now. "But does it HAVE to be HER?!"

They were both confused. Was he on board or not? He was about to tell his dad that, if he loved her then he would give her a chance, but a small, broken voice behind him beat him to it.

"I like Laura... I think she's nice."

They all turned around to see little Maddy sitting on the stairs. She looked tired and sad, but her face was void of any tears.

"And, I can't wait to have sisters! And I can't wait to have a stepmom either."

Tyler's world crashed around him.

He couldn't imagine how his brother and father felt.

Of course, Maddy was supportive. She was the only girl in this household. If his dad got married then she'd have a mother, and two sisters. How would have Tyler or Chris dealt with Maddy when she went through puberty? They know NOTHING about _that_ sort of thing.

Maddy _needed_ a mother. And Zack knew it too.

"I had no idea you felt that way Tyler.." Zack said, shattering the silence. Tyler turned back around to see an extremely deflated Zack, and a dejected looking Chris.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said finally. "To all of you. Dad, I love you.. and I'll support you.. even if it means merging families with that woman. Zack, I care about you so much, but you aren't the only one who has been grieving through all of this. One of these days you have to learn to.. just.. breathe, and let go. And my dear Maddy, I'm sorry if I woke you." He said lifting her from the stairs and giving her a tight hug.

"No, I was never asleep," she shrugged.

"So you were sitting there the whole time?"

"Yea, sorry," she looked down, hoping she wouldn't get into trouble. He just smiled warmly at her and then guided her back to bed. After ensuring that she was, in fact, asleep this time. He turned to his room. He saw his brother laying in bed and decided he was ready for the same. After his head touched the pillow he felt the darkness fall upon him, and he fell asleep. Void of any nightmares.

That is until... he shifted in bed, slightly seeing a figure looming over him. His eyes shot open and he saw his brother with a dark expression on his face.

"It's your fault mom died, so really, this is all your fault. Laura, dad, everything. I just wanted to remind you." Zack glared at him for a second more before returning to his bed.

Tyler thought for sure it was a dream, but once he pinched his arm and felt the obvious pain, he realized that this was indeed reality.

And his brother was right.

It was all his fault.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time skip to the wedding next chapter!! 
> 
> Then the sadness will slowly dissolve! 
> 
> BRING ON THE DRAMA!!! ~(>o


	5. Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm going to my first TØP concert on Saturday... so yea.. that's cool right?..
> 
>  
> 
> I wanted to post this before I went, so here ya go..

It was getting colder now.

The air was frigid, and Tyler was standing outside of a fro-yo shop, eating cotton candy flavored frozen yogurt. His hands were shivering as he held the giant cup, mostly filled with candy and whipped cream. His father was currently in the shop directly to the left, which was a tailor for men's clothing. He was getting one of his nicer suits hemmed, or whatever it's called. They were going to have a wedding at the courthouse. With only the kids. They neither had the funds or desire to have a big fancy wedding, and this way it wouldn't be so stressful. Tyler had been following his dad around for weeks. They were house hunting, and getting documents legalized for everything. Who knew weddings were such a legal issue? Tyler didn't. He was learning a lot.

They decided to have the wedding the week of thanksgiving break so all of the kids would be out of school. Their families didn't really get together for the holidays anymore since Tyler's mom died, and the Dun's usually spend thanksgiving with just the five of them anyway, so no one was missing out.

Tyler was even aloud to buy a new bow-tie for the wedding. Even though he wouldn't be wearing a suit, he could still look nice right? He went with a lavender colored one since Laura's dress was that same color. His dad later said that he would get a lavender colored tie, just so there was a little bit of a theme for the photos.

Zack refused to wear any kind of tie, but he did agree to wear a little purple silk flower in the pocket of his white shirt, and they ended up doing the same thing for Jay. Laura had found Maddy the perfect little dress that was baby blue and had little lilac flowers embroidered all over it. She even found a flower crown to match. Ashley and Abby had similar outfits, and Jordan basically wore the same thing as Zack. Nobody knew what Josh was going to wear. None of the Joseph's had seen Josh since that dinner. Tyler assumed he was just infuriated with the situation like Zack was.

Tyler was starting to get used to the idea, though. He was getting to know Laura more, and she didn't seem to be that bad of a person. She was, in fact, a single mother of _four kids_! They all seemed to get along pretty well, and Tyler was starting to get attached to the whole family. Of course there was Josh, but he might be able to get along with him... maybe... and, Tyler still got nauseous when he saw the couple kiss... and he was still afraid of moving.

' _No_!' Tyler thought. ' _Stop making excuses. Be positive_.' He tried to reassure himself as he took another bite of fro-yo. He shivered as the cold surrounded his body inside and out.

Maybe moving wasn't such a bad thing. Chris did promise that they would still stay in the area so that the kids wouldn't have to move schools. And maybe a bigger house would be nice for a change.

Something new.

A fresh start.

"Tyler, I got my suit, everything looks good! Maybe we could-," his father cut himself off when he saw Tyler standing there in the cold with a cup full of cavities. "Ice cream, Tyler?...Really?.. it's like thirty-four degrees out."

Tyler looked down at his almost finished fro-yo. He shrugged at his dad and then shoved another spoonful of M&Ms and cookie dough bits in his mouth. His father just rolled his eyes and got into the car. Tyler took that as a cue to get in as well, and soon they were driving off somewhere through the city.

"Anyway, I was thinking we could stop by a house our realtor suggested. He is over there now, and he wanted to know if we could swing by to look at it. What do you think? You up for that?" His father beamed at him, clearly excited. Tyler just smiled and nodded in response.

When they pulled into the neighborhood both Chris and Tyler's mouths dropped.

The houses were all two stories, and their yards were perfect. They all had matching fences, and not a single blade of grass was out of place. The houses looked brand new, and clearly out of their price range, so when they pulled up to the house that was for sale, Chris was shocked to see his realtor waving them over.

"T-this is the house we're gonna be looking at?" Chris stuttered, clearly in shock. Tyler noticed that the yard for this house was much bigger than the others, and there was a patio encircling the entire house.

"Yes, its on a corner lot so it has a lot of extra yard space. Come on in, let's check out the inside," the realtor beckoned, already trying to point out nice features. ' _What was his name_?' Tyler thought. ' _James_?'

James opened the door and Tyler and his father's jaws unhinged again. A curved staircase was the first thing you saw once entering through the front door. To the right was a laundry room that lead to the two car garage. Next to that there was a downstairs bathroom. The walls of the bathroom were painted blood red and the ceiling was covered with a wallpaper that shimmered gold, and the countertop was a similar color of granite. Tyler was so entranced with the unique bathroom his dad had to call him over to see the living room. The living room was cozy, with a fireplace in the corner, and it wasn't to big. It was openly adjoined with the kitchen which was a similar size.

Everything seem so perfect, and new. Tyler could hardly believe they could afford this house. When he went upstairs he saw that the floor plan was similar to his home. Except there was four bedrooms instead of three, and they were considerably bigger. The master bedroom had an adjoining bathroom, so that meant he wouldn't have to share with his dad any more, but oh _god_... could you imagine? He's gonna have to share a bathroom with seven other people.

Maybe he could use the blood colored bathroom.

Tyler was torn from his thoughts when he heard James refer to him and his dad.

"So... what do you guys think?"

If they're gaping mouths didn't already give it away, Tyler and his father were very impressed. Shocked, confused even, but still impressed.

"It's... it's amazing. So... are you sure this is in our price range?" Chris asked carefully, still not wrapping his head around the idea.

"Yes. The previous owner couldn't pay the loan so he eventually lost it to the bank, and the bank has been trying to sell it for years now, but no one has wanted it. So the price kept shrinking. Nothing's wrong with it either. It's just that most people who need homes like this have large families, and most of the time they can't barely afford one bedroom apartments," James shrugged. Trying to explain why this beautiful home was so cheap. Tyler was still confused. He knew his dad has been was saving up for quite some time, but it still seemed like they had more money then what Chris was telling Tyler.

"Come on back downstairs, lets check out the backyard!" James chirped. He was a younger man for his profession, but he was really good at talking about practicality of living and what not, and Chris was easily persuaded. "Another reason why the price is a bit lower could be because it doesn't have a pool. Compared to the rest of the houses at least, that is quite a big difference."

Tyler was a bit disappointed that there was no pool. But the yard was beautiful, and spacious. Tyler had a tugging feeling at his gut that told him that he couldn't wait to live here.

"Thanks Matt," apparently it was Matt, and not James.. "I'll talk it over with my fiancé, and maybe set up an appointment so she can see it," Chris shook his hand, and they both took one last glance at the house before driving off to run some more errands.

  
************

  
"So what did you think of that house, Tyler?"

Tyler was currently cooking dinner, and Chris was doing some paperwork on the table. Zack was over at a friends house, and the other two kids were somewhere doing homework... hopefully.

"I thought it was really beautiful. The yard was really nice, and that red bathroom was super cool," Tyler enthused.

"Yea.." Chris chuckled, "that bathroom was pretty cool!"

They both shared a giggle, before they went back to comfortable silence for another minute or two. Then Chris spoke again.

"Could you see yourself living there?"

Tyler hesitated. He _could_ see himself living there. With four new siblings, and a stepmom. He didn't know if he liked what he was seeing, but he could see it. "Yea," he shrugged.

"But, would you _like_ living there?" Chris asked skeptically, as if reading Tyler's mind. Tyler turned to his dad, and smiled his most convincing smile. He took a deep breath before finally deciding how he felt.

"Yes, I think I would." He really couldn't believe he made the decision so quickly, but he discovered that he really did like that house.

" _And this house isn't my only reminder of mom_ ," Tyler thought, remembering Brendon's words.

  
**************

  
Laura had loved the house, so they bought it the next day. The final sale would be the day after the wedding, which was perfect. They could move in right after.

They could move in two days.

Because today was the wedding.

Everything was prepared. Everyone was dressed appropriately, and they were all headed to the courthouse by one o'clock. The actual ceremony was at two o'clock.

When they arrived the kids were excited and running around all over the place. The teens just stood off to the side watching them. Making sure they didn't get they're clothes dirty.

Tyler was kind of happy. He felt weird. The sun was out, even though it was November. The playful mood of the kids was infectious, and he felt _happy_. He looked over to his brother to see him pouting as he leaned against the wall. He wasn't happy.

Tyler didn't know how to feel.

He had spotted Josh when Laura was pulling into the parking lot, but he never saw him after that. Tyler assumes he is still sitting in the car, avoiding the situation, but soon there will be no more avoiding. Soon it will be _real_.

Once it was time all the kids gathered around the small courtroom. The ordained judge sat atop his tall booth, and Chris and Laura stood on either side of it. Chris's kids stood on his side, going from Tyler, Zack, Maddy, to Jay. Laura's kids on her side in, you guessed it, order of Josh, Ashley, Jordan, then Abby. Everyone was either looking at the floor, or smiling to each other.

Tyler can see that Josh wasn't afraid to wear a tie, a black one, and he had one of those purple flowers as well. His blue hair matched the girls dresses, and everything seemed very formal and put together.

The talk was sort of long, and boring so Tyler allowed his mind to drift. After awhile of staring into nothing Tyler felt eyes boring into his soul, and hesitantly glanced up, immediately locking eyes with Josh. His expression was blank, and Tyler felt the need to look away, but fought it. Tyler was trying to see if Josh was silently telling him something, or if he was just staring like Tyler was, but after awhile Tyler felt like Josh was almost studying him. Reading him like a book.

' _What is he looking at?_ '

Tyler suddenly felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but still fought his urge to look away. The staring contest must have lasted longer than Tyler thought because soon he was hearing,

"..I may now pronounce you man, and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Tyler quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to seem utterly disrespectful if he gagged. He could hear cheering from the younger kids, and assumed it was over, which it was.

That was it then.

The Joseph's and the Dun's were finally one family.

Tyler and Josh were officially stepbrothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it was kinda short and boring, I had to get the wedding outta the way! Now it's time to have some fun... *evilly taps fingers together with a wicked grin*


	6. Migraine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot has been happening in the clique hasn't it. I can barely keep up, geez..
> 
> :P
> 
> Enjoy

Tyler flopped onto the couch with a huff. His younger siblings had gone to sleep already. He was pretty sure Zack just ran up to their room to cry, so Tyler left him alone for awhile and watched some TV.

His father and his new wife were gonna spend the night at a hotel. Tyler tried not to think about what that meant. He _really_ didn't want to throw up, so he focused on Tom as he got hit in the face with a rake, and Jerry laughed at him mercilessly.

Tyler was thinking back to the dinner they all had after the wedding. It was at a fancy restaurant that he couldn't pronounce the name of, and everyone was dressed up. He sat next to his dad and Ashley insisted that she sit next to Tyler. Tyler really didn't pay much attention to the rest of the seating arrangements. He was in a daze, and he could barely eat the so called 'food' that the restaurant offered.

"I guess this means you're my brother then," Ashley finally said after awhile of silence. She kind of laughed, but then it faded off into an expression Tyler could only identify as.. disappointment?

"Yep," he nodded staring at his slimy plate of food. "I'm your step-brother, and you're my step-sister," he said stating the obvious. He always felt awkward when he talked to her. He didn't know why. He hoped it was going to go away over time. Their conversation died, and he went back to staring.

His eyes were soon wandering across the table until they landed on Josh who was already staring him down. His heart jumped at the eye contact, and his urge to look away was so strong he initially gave into it. After realizing he shouldn't need to look away he locked eyes with his new stepbrother again. He was so confused why he was always staring at _him_. This time seemed different though. He was almost glaring at him. So Tyler almost glared back.

"Just ignore him, he is just... shocked like the rest of us," Ashley stated after seeing the two boys.

"Does he have something against me or something? I mean he never glares at my dad or Zack. Why me?" Tyler asked in a hushed yell. Ashley just gave him a sympathetic expression and shrug. Neither of them seemed to have a clue, but Tyler noticed that Josh's glare had shifted to his own sister. Tyler looked over at her in confusion. He was about to ask something, but he saw her eyes widen and then she shifted uncomfortably. Tyler's head whipped back and forth between Josh and Ashley, and there was definitely some sort of silent conversation going on between the two of them. Josh eventually just rolled his eyes, and then went back to glaring at Tyler. Tyler was fed up with all the confusion. He was starting to develop a headache, and that was never good.

Tyler was still trying to fight off the impending migraine as he lay on the couch. He just continued to watch his cartoons until he finally felt his eyes being weighed down with sleep.

  
************

He didn't know why he felt so angry. Everything around him was bright and colorful. There were perfect flowers in the lawn, and the grass was the richest green he had ever seen. The sky was crystal clear, and a brilliant shade a blue. The sun felt warm and cozy.

Then why was he fuming?

He stomped his feet on the plush grass. He was so enraged he didn't even see it laying there on the ground. As soon as his foot made contact with the sharp metal he already knew what was going to happen.

A loud _thud_ echoed through the air as the handle of the stupid rake flew up to his face. A large red mark pulsed on his forehead, and he fought the urge to cry. He saw a figure approach him. His vision was blurry from the blow to the head, but once it cleared up he saw the figure turn into Josh. His tattooed arm was stretched out toward Tyler, and his finger pointed as he laughed his head off. The laughter was foreign. It didn't sound real.

More laughter came, but this time he recognized it. He snapped his throbbing head to the left to see Ashley and Abby cracking up, and pointing their fingers at him. His head switched to the right and he saw Jordan, Maddy, and Jay clutching their stomachs, laughing louder then he has ever heard.

The world was spinning around him. Somewhere in the mix of people his father and his new wife were laughing too. Josh had fallen to the lush grass, and tears streaked his face as his fake cackling grew more intense.

Tyler was backing away, but they were following him.

Pointing their fingers.

Making fun of him.

Zack finally walked through the deranged crowd with a scowl on his face. Tyler shook with fear as his little brother's eyes turned red.

 _"It's all your fault. It's all your fault, Tyler! Look at what you've done!"_ His brothers voice came out broken. Distant. It was a replay of what Zack had told him before. 

Tyler cried. His vision was blurry again, and this caused Zack to turn into something different. Something that looked more like a reflection.

Through his tears and blurry vision he could see himself.

His eyes were still red. Staring back at him. The laughter still surrounding Tyler's ears. Suddenly a booming voice broke through the constant laughter.

The voice of a demon.

_"You did this."_

He screamed out, clutching for something in the darkness that he awoke to.

Anything.

Anything to help him calm down.

He found a pillow on the other side of the couch, and shoved his face into it. Wailing out his fears and frustrations.

He cried for a good forty-five minutes before finally catching his breath, and the tears slowed down. It was about three in the morning. He had fallen asleep on the couch, and the TV must have turned off because the living room was completely black.

He forced himself up and stumbled toward the stairs. Once he reached the top he decided that he was terrified of his brother, even though it was all just a nightmare. He decided he was going to sleep in his father's bed.

Laying there reminded him of when he was younger and had nightmares. He would crawl into his parents bed and cuddle with his mom, who would hold him and sing him to sleep.

He began to cry again.

He missed his mother _so_ much.

He was tired of her being gone. He wanted her to hold him again. He wanted her to tell him everything was going to be ok.

But it wasn't, and she wont, because she was gone.

  
***************

  
"TYLER WAKE UP! Tyler! You gotta wake up! Daddy's taking us _camping_!" Maddy squealed as she jumped on their father's bed. Tyler slowly opened his eyes. It was quite difficult since the tears had dried and sealed his eyelids shut. His headache was extremely evident once the morning sunlight grazed his bloodshot eyes. "Oh," Maddy recoiled from her jumping, and sat next to her sleep deprived brother. "Did you have another migraine?" She asked, concerned.

"Yea, I-I think so," he croaked out. His voice was scratchy from his harsh night. He felt like if he moved his limbs would fall off.

But despite his pain, he forced himself up. He used the palms of his hands to knead the ache in his eyes, and then his fingers turned upward to pull at his hair, relieving some of the pressure in his brain momentarily.

"Wait," he said as his mind caught up with itself. "Did you say dad was taking us camping?" He asked completely shocked.

"Yea, he said that they wanted their honeymoon to involve us kids, and yet have something kind of inexpensive," She beamed.

He hadn't taken them camping in years, and they used to go all the time, but usually it was in the summer. Today was the day after Thanksgiving. In the middle of November. They were going camping... in November.

Tyler had followed his sister downstairs only to be met with a house full of kids. Tyler didn't expect to see them there all ready to go. Bags were packed. The kids were running around doing whatever kids do. Josh was on his phone in the living room. Laura and Ashley were making breakfast. Chris and Zack were double checking the camping gear...and Tyler?

He was in his underwear.

When he fell asleep he was still wearing what he wore to the wedding, but when he got in bed he had taken off his pants and bow tie. So currently, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs wearing his white button up and his blue stripped boxers.

He was aware that he was in his underwear, but his head hurt too much to care, really. He just trudged his way over to his dad.

"Hey kiddo!" Chris chirped, but his smile faded as he saw his oldest son's current condition. "Oh no! Migraine again?" Chris held Tyler's shoulders and looked closer into Tyler's eyes, seeing that they were glassy and red. "I'm sorry bud, do you think you'll be able to go camping with us this weekend?" Chris pouted.

Tyler could have said no. He could have stayed home, and not have to deal with all of this. But he knew being alone would have been worse.

When he's alone.. things get messy.

"No.. I'll go.. I just probably need some food.. and a Red Bull," Tyler huffed out, trying to straighten up his posture. His father rolled his eyes at the last part, but ushered him to the kitchen to go get some food. When he turned around he saw Josh staring at him again. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he wore an expression Tyler couldn't figure out. It almost looked like fear, but Tyler couldn't tell. Maybe it had to do with him being in his underwear. The throbbing behind Tyler's eyes told him, again, that he didn't care, and he headed for the kitchen.

"Good morning sweetheart! There's a plate of waffles if you want some," Laura smiled at the morning glory, and went back to stirring some eggs in a pan.

Tyler didn't even notice Ashley go beet red from the sight of him. He just quickly scarfed down his waffles, and drank a whole glass of water. His doctor told him that water helps with headaches, but he didn't think they helped at all. Every time he'd try to drink a lot of water to get rid of his headache it just made him queasy and have to pee a lot, but he decides to listen to his doctor and drink it anyway.

Once he was done he headed back upstairs to get ready for this weekend camping trip. He hoped it wouldn't be too weird, or stressful. But _anything_ is better then being alone.

  
****************

  
For some reason Chris thought it would be fun if the girls went with Laura in her car, and the boys went with him in his car. Zack, of course, called shotgun so Tyler and Josh were in the middle row, and Jay and Jordan were in the back.

Tyler had brought everything he usually brings camping. His camera, his journal, and his special marshmallow stick. He was currently reading old entrees that he had written in his journal. Things that he had written before his mother died. He was trying his best not to cry at the happy memories.

 _July 10th_ (two years prior)

_We went hiking, and Zack got lost. We were all frantically looking for him for thirty minutes before we finally found him. Mom was terrified. She told us all to never leave her side again._

Tyler slammed his journal shut, shoved his headphones in his ears, and turned on the saddest music he could find. He stared out his window looking out into the forest surrounding them, trying not to think at all. He could feel eyes on him, but he didn't care. He eventually fell asleep with memories of his _real_ family.

  
***************

  
He felt horrible.

Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

His neck was kinked, and his migraine was still present. He forced his eyes open when the car came to a stop and all the boys were unbuckling their seat belts.

"Yay! We're here!" Jay cheered.

Tyler's head pounded like bowling ball was being bounced repeatedly inside it from his brother's shrill voice. He open the car door and slipped out of his seat. It was cold. Very cold. He was glad he brought extra blankets because it's sure to be even colder at night.

The first task his father gave him was to build the campfire. He didn't mind that. He loved fire. It was warm, but destructive. Kind of like himself. He laughed at his own thoughts as he worked on autopilot making the fire.

"What's so funny?" Ashley asked amused by the boys sudden laughter.

Tyler's smile faded, and he was brought back to reality. He stared at Ashley wondering what she meant. Nothing was funny. Why was she asking? He never answered her either, just continued building the fire.

"Don't mind him. When he has a migraine he tends to not be... here... like.. he's somewhere else." Zack tried to explain.

"He just zones out, is what Zack means," Maddy corrected. She didn't like how Zack made him sound like he was crazy.

"Whatever," Zack just brushes her off, and continues to set up the camping chairs.

Tyler just ignored all of it. Once he struck the match against the box he focused on the flame for a second to long before tossing it into the pit. The tiny flame touched a piece of paper towel and the whole thing lit up, creating a small fire. He looked inside the flame and felt the pain in his sinuses melt away. He was doing ok until his dad's voice brought him out of his thoughts again.

"Ok so, Laura and I will set up our tent, the girls can have the medium tent, and the boys can have the two smaller tents," Chris organized as he pulled out the equipment.

"I wanna share a tent with Jordan!" Jay exclaimed. Grabbing onto the pour kid pulling him over to help him set up their tent. Chris walked over a handed Tyler the other tent.

"You two can have this one," he gestured to him and Josh. Tyler's foggy thoughts suddenly cleared up after he realized what his father just said.

"What?" Tyler and Josh both said in unison. They glanced at each other with the same expression on their faces. Tyler looked over to Zack, and he just shook his head at Tyler. He turned around to help Jay and Jordan set up their tent.

Tyler was in a panic. Was he seriously going to have to share a tent with Josh?

_Crap!_

They stared at each other blankly before Josh rolled his eyes and yanked the tent out of Tyler's grasp. Tyler nearly flinched at the rough action. He was a little nervous about this.

 _'What if I have a nightmare?'_ Tyler thought to himself. _'That would be embarrassing.'_

He slowly walked over to where Josh had cleared a spot. They set up the temporary room together in silence until Josh started to get frustrated.

"No! That piece goes there!" He said firmly, pointing at the plastic stick in Tyler's hand. Tyler couldn't fight the smirk that forced its way onto his lips. Besides _'Mama, can we go home now'_ , and the _'what'_ Josh just said, this was the first time he had said anything to him. Tyler took the opportunity and ran with it.

"Oh, so it goes here?" Tyler goaded as he purposely pointed at the exact opposite spot Josh told him it was supposed to go, and Josh did not like it. He scowled at him returned back to what he was doing. Tyler's smile deepened as he put the stick in the wrong spot. He saw Josh watch him, and tense up. Tyler thought it was hilarious how high strung the guy was. He laughed out loud, and put the stick in the correct slot. "Jeez, you need to lighten up man," Tyler teased.

After about ten more minutes their tent was completely set up, and Tyler was blowing up the air mattress. He was trying not to think about the fact that he was going to be, not only sharing a tent, but also a _bed_ with Josh. His mind flickered to a image of them cuddling, and he immediately shook his head violently to get rid of that thought.

_'What the heck?'_

He continued to make the bed up, laying the extra blankets out and fluffing up their pillows. Once he was done, he returned to where everyone else was sitting around the fire. He noticed Jay was using his special marshmallow stick, but that was fine. He'd use it later.

Everyone was having quiet conversations, and Tyler had let his eyes close. He wasn't asleep, but it felt good to just close his eyes and breathe in the fresh, crisp, air. Everyone got sort of quiet, when suddenly Tyler could hear a soft strumming of what sounded like a high pitched guitar. The song that was floating around in the air sounded Hawaiian. Tyler was instantly in love with the soft music, and he forced his eyes open to see where it was coming from.

It was Abby.

She had a tiny guitar in her hands and she was playing soft melodies with it. Tyler could barely control himself as he drifted toward his youngest stepsister to watch her more closely. After her little song was over she reached out and handed the small instrument to Tyler. He was kind of hesitant at first, but he accepted the invitation and grabbed it from her.

"What's it called?" He asked, as he studied the structure of it.

"It's a ukulele," she beamed, "I tried to learn guitar, but it's kind of big. So mom got me this!" She explained.

Just the sound of its name made Tyler smile. He didn't know why he was so interested in this little instrument, but it felt as though it was calling to him.

"Do you play any instruments?" She asked.

"Well.. when I was fourteen my mom bought me a keyboard for no reason, but.. I never took it out of the box. I always wanted to, but I never had time, I guess..," he thought back to when his mom had given him the instrument, he was excited, but once he put it in his closet, it was forgotten, and now that his mom died... it was hard to even look at it.

"Well, I can teach you how to play the ukulele if you want. It's not that hard to learn actually," she giggled. Tyler giggled with her, and he felt a sudden wash over his head. Like someone opened up a door and let the pain drain out.

And his headache was gone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a part of this was loosely based off the Grammy's.. I'm sure you figured out which part.. lol.. and I'm not sure if I should add Blurry or not... tell me what you guys think. :D


	7. Let me Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for so long :( ... you guys know depression and all that, right?...yeah you get it. 
> 
> Actually I have a tooth that thinks it's full of 'wisdom' and is pressing on my already existent teeth causing me great pain.. so yea. I tried to write but I looked at the document like...'no sorry, not today..' 
> 
> ANYWAY I finally got this out. 
> 
> Enjoy (^-^)

After about ten minutes of showing Tyler a few chords, Abby had successfully taught him how to play the song 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. Tyler was amazed by how easy it was to learn. Abby told him that he was a natural, and that he learned it faster than she did, but he just figured he picked it up because he was older.

After playing around with it for awhile he handed the small instrument back over to her and thanked her for the little lesson. He found his way back to his chair and relished in this new feeling he had. He was _definitely_ going to pull out the keyboard his mom got him when he got home.

The peacefulness of the forest was almost unreal to Tyler. The soft crackling of the campfire, the giggles coming from Jay as him and Jordan made s'mores, the soft breeze, and the setting sun. He gazed up at the sky and saw stars starting to shine in the growing darkness.

He heard Abby's soft voice add to the serenity as she asked everyone if they had any requests. Maddy asked if she knew how to play 'Break Away' by Kelly Clarkson, and Abby told her she'd have to learn that one.

One came to Tyler's mind and he didn't even no where it came from, but since no one else was requesting anything he thought he'd ask.

"Can you play 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz?" He always liked that song because the tune matched his voice perfectly. It was easy to sing along with, and the lyrics were catchy. It was his go-to karaoke song for sure.

"Oooo!" Abby jumped up and down in her seat, "yeah, yeah. That was one of the first songs I learned! It's really fun! Joshie? Can you do the beat we were practicing?" She turned to her older brother who was currently wrapped up in a blanket staring into the fire. He gave her a look that indicated that he was very comfortable in his position and didn't want to move. Abby was quick to jut her lip out in a _very_ convincing pout that even made Tyler's heart waver. Josh gave in almost immediately and unwrapped his arms from his blanket. "Yay!" Abby cheered, and then went to start the first chords.

Josh started a steady rhythm on his lap which sounded very similar to the actual song.

 _'He must practice a lot.'_ Tyler thought, while listening to the duo.

Everyone else was focused on the two as well.

That is until Abby turned everyone's attention to Tyler.

"Tyler why don't you sing? You requested it!" She prompted. Everyone turned to him and nodded, wanting him to join in with the makeshift band. He briefly glanced at Josh who was looking at him expectantly as well.

Tyler didn't feel nervous about singing. He wasn't sure if his voice was good or not, but he never really felt like he didn't want to sing in front of people, so as soon as Abby got to the right chord he started to sing. Quiet at first, but gaining confidence as he went on.

Trying to focus on remembering the words, he eventually lost himself in the music. He closed his eyes and felt the words flow out of his mouth. He wasn't sure they were the right lyrics, but at this point he didn't care. It felt so nice to have the soft music add to the peace he was feeling.

He was _happy_.

 _But I won't hesitate_  
no more, no more  
It cannot wait,  
I'm yours.

As soon as he reached the chorus Chris, Laura, and all the kids, but Josh, were singing along. Tyler felt a sudden spark in his heart at the sound of everyone's voices. He felt the need to sing louder, and to lead everyone else so they could sing along with him. His eyes watched all the happy faces who surrounded the flickering light of the fire. His eyes fell on his blue haired stepbrother who was still drumming on his lap.

It was faint, and soft. But in the dim light Tyler could make out a tiny smile on the boy's lips. The corners of his mouth just barely turned upward at the sound of everyone singing in unison.

 _Listen to the music of the moment_  
people dance and sing.  
We are just one big family!  
And it's our God-forsaken right to be   
loved, loved, loved, loved, loved!

 _So I won't hesitate_  
no more, no more.  
It cannot wait, I'm sure!  
There's no need to complicate.  
Our time is short!  
This is our fate,   
I'm yours!

The fact that the lyrics seemed to fit the situation perfectly, made everyone sing even louder. Some kids were laughing. Jay didn't really know what was happening but he sang along with the parts that he knew. Tyler was having a ball! He felt like something actually was unique about this family being brought together. Like they all found each other's common ground. Even Josh seemed happy. Heck! Even _ZACK_ looked happy! Tyler decided there and then that if they were having trouble getting along, this is what they needed to do. Sing together. Play music together. Remember this moment, that for just one night, they were all at peace.

 _Well open up your mind and see like me._  
Open up your plans and dang you're free!  
Look into your heart, and you'll find the sky is yours!  
So please don't please don't please don't  
There's no need to complicate  
'Cause our time is short  
This, oh this, this is our fate,...

_...I'm yours._

As the song neared the end everyone stopped singing along and let Tyler finish. They all stared at him either in awe, or with pride. The pride mostly coming from his dad. Everyone else was just entranced as he sang the last words with the sound of the ukulele.

Like they belonged together.

Maybe they did.

He had his eyes closed, but as soon as he finished the last two lyrics he opened them to direct eye contact with Josh who had stopped tapping the beat awhile ago.

He too stared at Tyler in shock. Tyler suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment as an applause came from the small group of people. They weren't just clapping for Tyler, though. Abby had created the melody, and Josh had kept the rhythm. They were clapping for the whole thing, and that made Tyler feel a bit more calm. He shoved away his initial self-conciseness and then relaxed back into his chair.

A moment of soft chatter amongst the group started to lull Tyler to sleep, and apparently his father caught onto it.

"ALRIGHT KIDS!" He shouted to get everyone's attention. Something told Tyler his father was going to have to be doing that a lot more often. "Time for bed! Let's get ready!" Surprisingly, no one groaned with annoyance. They all just complied and headed for their tents.

Tyler still felt a little uneasy about how sharing a tent with Josh was going to go, but he felt like somehow they had made some sort of connection through playing that song together. Hopefully things wouldn't be so... awkward?... hostile?... _tense!_ Hopefully things wouldn't be so tense between them.

However, Tyler apparently spoke to soon.

When he got up to go grab some pajamas from the tent, Josh rushed to get in front of him, shoving his shoulder in the process. Tyler scoffed at the childish action, and decided not to mouth off at the punk simply because Tyler had no energy left. He just watched in distain as Josh climbed back out of the tent, and headed for the bathroom cabin that was just up a little trail.

Tyler took his turn and grabbed his toiletry bag as well. The little trail over the hill was plunged into the dark forest that surrounded their little campsite. Tyler was terrified of walking alone so he waited until his brother came around and they walked together.

He returned from the bathroom with clean teeth and comfy clothes on and then went to say goodnight to his dad, and all his siblings. Everyone was all getting into their tents, but Tyler hesitated.

Josh was already in there.

The little light from, most likely, his phone illuminated the inside. Tyler tried to give himself a pep talk before going in so he'd have a little bit of a defense. That is, if he needed it, of course.

' _You have the right to be there just as much as he does._ '

He put on his stone faced expression and zipped open the flimsy flap.

Josh was laying on his side with his back facing, what Tyler assumed was, Tyler's side of the bed. He was, like Tyler thought, on his phone scrolling through something. Twitter, maybe? Tyler just rolled his eyes at the boy and zipped up the makeshift door. He got himself comfortable, as far on his side of the bed as possible, and willed himself to go to sleep so he wouldn't have to endure this for too long.

After about ten minutes he heard Josh's phone click off, and then felt him shift. Like he was turning to lay flat on his back.

Tyler was so close. He felt the heavy weight of sleep starting to set in, but a deep scratchy voice tore him away from it.

"You're a really good singer," he heard Josh whisper. Barely audible, but Tyler heard it clear as day.

Shock was Tyler's initial reaction. Second was to return the sentiment, so he just rolled with it.

"You're a really good drummer," Tyler said, in the same hushed volume.

"Pfffft.. _whatever_ dude," he felt Josh shift back on his side, with his back to him, and he could tell he was rolling his eyes just from his body language.

"No..seriously."

"I was tapping my legs!"

"Yeah! And it sounded just like the song, it was really cool!" Their voices were slowly building in volume, but still quiet enough where no one outside the tent could hear. Tyler couldn't believe this was their first real conversation.

"Whatever dude, just shut up so I can sleep," Josh mumbled into his pillow.

"You're the one who started the conversation!" Tyler tensed up. He suddenly felt offended.

"Yeah, and you were supposed to say 'thank you', and then it would be over. Not reply with a textbook response."

" _Well sorry_ for giving you a compliment!" Tyler fired back. He grabbed a fistful of blankets and yanked them over to his side, curling up, and essentially ending the conversation. Tyler felt his blood boiling.

' _What was wrong with this guy?_ '

Tyler forced his eyes shut, and prayed to the God above, that he wouldn't have any nightmares.

  
**************

  
Taco Bell was one of his favorite places to be. His favorite food. His favorite everything.

He sat across from his closest friend, Brendon as he ate his favorite food.

But something wasn't right.

"Brendon why aren't you eating?" He asked as his friend stared him down with a blank expression.

"Why are you leaving me Tyler?" Brendon looked sad. Genuinely broken.

"What? I'm not. We're eating lunch," he said right before munching on his chalupa. There was a tightness on his ankle, suddenly. Initially he ignored it. He just kept on eating his chalupa, but then the pressure on his ankle got tighter. He glanced down at his foot to see what was wrong.

There was a hand.

Wrapped around his ankle.

He jumped out of his chair dropping his food in the process.

"Dude that's so rude! How could you drop your food on the floor?" Brendon cried. His tears falling and shimmering like pearls. Tyler looked back at his ankles to see that the hand was gone. He glanced back up to see Brendon was now a blue haired guy in plain white t-shirt and pajama pants.

"Just shut up and let me sleep!"

His eyes flew open at the sound of Josh's voice. Bringing him back to reality.

Thank goodness he didn't wake up screaming. It wasn't too scary.

Waking up a bit more Tyler found himself lying on a half deflated air mattress in the dark, surrounded by plastic-like fabric. He now remembered that he is in a tent. Because they were camping. He shifted a bit and the realized how cold he was. He turned on his side curling into the warmth he felt beside him. His eyes had fallen shut again, and the heat radiating from the other side of the bed helped him back to sleep.

He woke up a second time to the sounds of birds chirping, and a fire crackling. His eyes gently peeled open, and for once he actually felt rested. His vision was immediately blocked by a white fabric with a pale skinned arm just below it.

Tyler froze.

His nose was mere millimeters away from Josh's arm.

His eyes followed the arm up Josh's torso to see the screen of an iPhone in his hand. Josh was awake and scrolling through something that Tyler recognized as Tumblr. Tyler, without moving a muscle, glanced down to see his own torso was almost as close to Josh as his nose is.

And his knee.

It was pressed up against Josh's thigh.

He felt his cheeks heat up, but for some reason Josh seemed like he could care less, so he forced himself not to jerk away from him. He watched Josh's phone for awhile. He came across a post that said #Relatable. The gif was of a cat rolling down the stairs face first, and landing in all sorts of directions. The caption read 'it's time for school'. Tyler tried his best to hold in his giggle, but then he saw Josh's body shake with a chuckle. The smile that grew on Tyler's face was an automatic response to the delicate sound of Josh's laughter.

He just continued to watch as Josh surfed through his feed, trying not to laugh out loud at some of the memes. Tyler could hear some of the kids starting to get up outside, and he could smell food cooking. Just as he started to think about how he was going to get out of this situation, Chris came over and tapped the top of their tent.

"Alright boys, time to start the day! Breakfast is ready," he announced, and Josh turned to set his phone down. He threw the blankets off of him and then sat up completely. The mattress shifted at the movement, and Tyler took that as his queue to move over. As he turned onto his back he saw Josh stretching his arms into the air. This caused his white shirt ride up just a bit, exposing even paler skin. Tyler's face flushed red again and he forced himself to turn away.

Josh pulled some shoes on, and then exited the tent, closing the flap behind him.

Tyler let out a deep breath, that he had no idea he was holding, and then started to chide himself for different things. He finally decided that he was hungry, so he threw on some shoes and a hoodie, and got out of the tent as well. The air mattress made a wheezing sound as his weight left it completely, and Tyler laughed to himself.

"Sorry," he apologized to the mattress for no apparent reason, and then went to find where ever this 'ready' breakfast was. Following the aroma to the small picnic table on the other side of the campfire, Tyler grabbed a plate and started dumping the food onto it. There were potatoes, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and even bacon. He was starting to salivate when he heard his dad's voice.

"Isn't this a nice spread Ty? Laura cooked it all herself," he stated, giving Tyler a knowing look. Tyler just rolled his eyes internally at his father's ridiculousness, but played along for his dad's sake.

"Yes its really nice! Thank you Laura," Tyler smiled and shoveled the food into his mouth. He enjoyed eating outside in the morning air. It was pleasant.

"Tyler would always be the one to cook breakfast, he actually would be the one to cook a lot of things. He is a way better cook than I am," Chris admitted sheepishly. He knew Tyler deserved some credit.

"Well that's great, we'll have to cook something together sometime, sweetie!" Laura smiled wide at her new stepson.

"That actually sounds nice, thank you," he was genuinely delighted at the idea. He still felt sick every time she called him 'sweetie', but he pushed that aside.

After breakfast they all went on a short walk/hike up the hill. It was quiet, and the kids seemed happy. Tyler had brought his camera, and was taking some photos that could be considered professional, but he never thought so. He was just taking them to capture beautiful moments, so that they could relive them later if they wanted to.

He was aiming his camera at a certain boy with cotton candy for hair, when they suddenly all heard a loud scream.

"TYLER! COME QUICK!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all forgive me for the cliffhanger right?


	8. Insulted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AAAAHAHAHAHA... *wipes tear* oh boy..
> 
>  
> 
> You guys can kill me.. I give you full permission. :/

A snake. A bear. A broken leg.

He was imagining the worst as he navigates his way through the forest. He was sprinting at full speed toward his sister's voice as it kept calling out for him. Maddy had apparently strayed from the path, and Tyler was stopping every once and awhile to figure out which direction her voice was coming from.

_'Maybe she's ok. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe she's just fallen down and sprained her ankle. Maybe she's bleeding out and near death. Maybe a mountain lion has her pinned to-'_

"TYLER! Over here, quick!" Maddy's ever closer voice cut off Tyler's racing thoughts. He finally caught sight of his sister after quickly averting to the left and hopping over a couple fallen down trees. He was finally only a few feet away. After immediately observing that there wasn't a bear, and she seemed unharmed, he keeled over on himself, using his arms to support his torso by leaning on his knees. He took in much needed oxygen with large, dramatic, gasps. Josh was apparently trailing Tyler since he jogged up next to him, out of breath as well.

"Maddy!.. _gasp_..Are you ok?!" Tyler choked out between his violent inhaling.

"What?.. I'm fine.." she answered, slightly confused. Her confusion turned to embarrassment pretty quick as she saw the rest of the family running toward them, all wearing fear on their faces.

Tyler wanted to be mad, but of course he couldn't. He was just glad she was ok. After finally regaining some oxygen he slightly caught sight of Josh who looked like he was about to explode at any moment. Tyler quickly felt the need to protect his sister from the blue-haired boy's oncoming rage, so he leapt over in her direction, and said what everyone was thinking.

"Maddy, you scared the heck out of all of us! Why'd you leave the path?" He tried to be as gentle as he could, but still firm since she did go running off without telling anyone.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to alarm you all!" She lamented. Her face crumpled into something apologetic, and regretful. "I-I just.. I recognized the path, and how when we were looking for Zack a couple years ago, we went down the hill a little to look for him and found him by this old broken fence," she pointed at a fence that had definitely seen better days, and Tyler remembers seeing it before. No one had really noticed, but Zack's face had turned beat red from the memory. "The next time we were here we had came back with the sign that we made, remember Tyler?" She asked, and her face lit up a bit.

"Yeah... yeah I remember..," He recalled the silly memories. He peered over to where she was pointing and saw the old wooden sign that had childish handwriting scrawled with sharpie.

 ** _National Monument_**  
 _Place of Discovering that_    
 _Zack Joseph_  
 _Isn't Perfect_  

Tyler giggled at the sentiment, and all the Dun kids went to inspect this old treasure from the Joseph's adventures. Zack was still an embarrassed mess as Maddy was explaining the story. Tyler noticed that Josh's anger had seemed to melt away into a small smirk as he learned about Zack's previous mistake. When they started heading back to the campsite Ashley began to tell a hilarious story about Jordan getting lost in the grocery store. This seemed to have put Zack at ease as he laughed at the new target for sibling banter.

"Hey! That lady looked just like Momma, ok!" He defended. Everyone chuckled at his outburst.

When they finally returned back to the campsite, Chris was roasting hot dogs, and the kids were scattered about either playing cards or talking with one another. Tyler was currently wrapped up in a blanket, sitting criss cross on his camping chair, in front of the fire. He was putting an entry into his Journal, writing about the event with Maddy (and definitely not adding a note about Josh's apparent short fuse).

"Hey! Ya'know Momma, now that there are eight kids in the family, that would be more then enough people to ensure the care of a pet!" Abby wiggled her eyebrows, trying to convince her mother of something. Tyler swore she was gonna be some kind of swindler one day.

"Yes! Please Momma! A kitten!" Tyler's eyes widened as he saw Josh pretty much begging for a kitten. Laura, obviously being used to her daughters smooth tricks and her sons begging, she gave them an incredulous look and then rolled her eyes.

"Even with ten people around, I still think that the care of the poor animal would fall on the two parents in the household."

Abby tried to fight it, but after a awhile of arguing, and a few comments from Josh, Laura finally concluded that it was the _'end of the discussion.'_

Things like this made Tyler feel at ease with these people even more, and he began to sketch a kitten into his journal.

 

***************

 

After they had eaten their hot dogs, and s'mores, Abby played her ukulele, and Tyler took more flawless photographs, everything once again felt at peace. Tyler wasn't even nervous to go to sleep that night either. They all had gotten ready for bed, and Tyler didn't hesitate to enter the tent this time. When he did, he saw that Josh was buried in a mountain of blankets while watching something on his phone. He had his earbuds in as well, and Tyler just slipped under the covers basically unnoticed. After a while of pure silence, Tyler was having trouble trying to sleep, so he decided to test his luck. He scooted over a bit, making sure not to touch him, and peered over to his phone.

"Whatcha watchin'?" Tyler said softly. He thought that Josh would have ignored him, but was pleasantly surprised when he reached up to pull out an earbud.

"Hmm?"

"Whatcha watchin'?" Tyler repeated a tiny bit louder.

"The Office... season 2.."

"Cool," Tyler wasn't quite sure where he was going with this conversation.

"You wanna.. watch.. too?" Josh asked awkwardly. Tyler was happily surprised.

"Sure," he nodded and then twisted onto his side as Josh handed him an earbud. He made it so the earbuds allowed them room so their faces wouldn't be so close, and then turned the phone over in Tyler's direction.

They watched random episodes for another two hours until Josh's hand seemed to have relaxed and his phone dropped to his stomach. Tyler had propped his head up on his hand and elbow, so he just glanced over to look and see that Josh had fallen asleep. Tyler couldn't fight the goofy smile that weaved its way onto his face from the sight of the sleeping punk. His face was so _serene_.

Tyler shook his head to snap himself out of his daze, and then gently lifted Josh's phone from his tummy, plugging it into the travel phone charger. He pulled the covers over Josh and himself, and then he fell into a deep, peaceful, _dreamless_ sleep.

  
**************

  
He woke up once again to birds singing, and a half deflated air mattress. He found that this time, however, he was slightly warmer then before. Yesterday morning he had woken up a bit chilled, but this morning he was comfortably toasty. His pillow was warm and firm, and he nuzzled into it a little bit. It was making a weird thumping sound that he didn't quite understand at first. Until...

"Aahhh!" He jumped away immediately after realizing that he was completely curled up with Josh this time. His arms and legs both tangled around him. Josh was still clearly deep in sleep as he only twisted around onto his side, from Tyler's sudden outburst, slightly snoring again almost immediately. Tyler relaxed a second after recovering from his mild humiliation. He tried to lay back down, but the shock just made everything feel weird to Tyler and he was wide awake.

He forced some shoes onto his feet without making too much noise or movement, and then quietly exited the small tent. Apparently it was still pretty early because his father wasn't even awake yet. He tried to busy himself with setting up the fire, and then getting the picnic table ready for breakfast. He didn't know what time it was, but judging by the sun in the sky, his family was sleeping in pretty late. He just shrugged to himself, and then decided he could make breakfast too.

About an hour later the food was pretty much done, and the only signs of life were coming from the girls tent. Ten minutes after Tyler had finally finished all the pancakes, bacon, and eggs, Maddy and Abby slipped out of their tent fully dressed, and ready for the day. He smiled at them as they thanked him for the breakfast. Not long after, the three younger boys exited their tent, and came to join them. Ashley finally trudged out of her tent, still in her PJ's, looking quite tired.

Tyler was shocked at how long it was taking his dad to wake up, or at least get up and out, because now even Josh was coming out of the tent with causal clothes on, and his phone in his hand. Tyler attempted to smile at Josh as he walked over and grabbed some pancakes, but he was met with a blank expression. He really couldn't quite figure Josh out. Tyler figured he either wasn't a morning person, or he was only ever nice to him at night. Or.. maybe he was only nice when they were _alone_. That didn't make any sense to Tyler, so he just pushed the thought away completely.

Finally, after the kids were finishing their food, Chris and Laura emerged from their tent with their hands intertwined. Their faces wore bright, beaming, smiles as they gazed at each other with no other emotions besides love, and _passion_. 

Tyler gagged.

He physically gagged. He couldn't help it. He felt his stomach churning, and the bile starting to bubble.

 _'Did they...?_ ' The mere thought caused his barely digested breakfast to start climbing back up his throat. He started to get up so he could run into the woods and get some fresh air. Possibly even empty his stomach if it got to that point, but his dad stopped him before he could even stand up all the way.

"Tyler? Did you make all of this?" He asked with the same glowing expression. Tyler was afraid to speak. He was afraid he was going to end up blowing chunks in his dad's face, so he just nodded in reply. "Thank you so much, Ty!" His father was acting like he was high on something and that made Tyler irritated. He begrudgingly sat back down as his father continued to praise him for the ' _outrageously delicious_ ' food. Tyler just rolled his eyes. Eventually he was able to slip away and grab his journal. He started writing random things down just to look busy.

"Alright kids! Today's Sunday, and even though we missed church because we're on vacation, that doesn't mean we can't have a spiritual day. How about we name our favorite scriptures!" Tyler perked up at his dad's announcement. He was curious to see if Josh even knew any scriptures from the Bible. "Jay let's start with you."

"Mine is in John!" He giggled, but then looked confused as he tried to remember the exact scripture. "Is it.. 48?" He looked over at Tyler with a hopeful expression and Tyler just smiled at the boy.

"Do you mean first John 4:8?" Tyler prompted, and the youngest of the group attempted to snap his fingers at the realization.

"YES! That's it! God is love!" He smiled proudly, and everyone nodded approvingly at the boy.

Abby went next, and she explained that the story of Noah was her favorite, and she didn't have a specific scripture. Then it was Maddy's turn, because apparently they were going from youngest to oldest, and hers was the classic John 3:16. Jordan refused to give an answer because apparently he loves 'the Bible in its entirety', and didn't want to 'single out just one good scripture'. The family laughed at first, but then agreed that he was right, and he didn't need to pick one if he didn't want to.

Zack tried to be funny.

"Colossians 3:21," his face was stone cold, and tiny drops of venom were laced in his voice. Tyler laughed out loud at his brother's answer, and both Laura and Chris looked confused from the two boy's actions.

"What's that one say, Zack?" Chris asked carefully, fearing the worst.

"Fathers, provoke not your children _to anger_ , lest they be discouraged." Zack deadpanned. Tyler snickered in the background as the entire group fell silent. Tyler saw from the corner of his eye that Josh was smiling too, and this made him giggle harder, making it difficult to hold back from full on laughing. Chris just bitterly moved on from the topic and gestured to Ashley for her turn. Ashley just shrugged.

"Matthew 6:34, I guess. 'So do not fret over tomorrow, for tomorrow will do its own fretting, a day’s evil is a sufficiency for that day.'" She stated quietly. She seemed downcast as she quoted those words, and Tyler turned to write it into his journal.

"Hmm, you must have the Byington Bible, don't you?" Her stepfather asked curiously. She nodded with her eyes still trained to the grass. "That's my favorite scripture too, Ashley," He paused for a second, and then broke the silence once again. "What does it mean to you?"

She thought about it for a second before replying.

"To me it means that I shouldn't be worried about my future, because.. the present has enough worries, and I should focus on today." When she paused her gaze lifted from the ground, and she looked straight at Tyler, and he saw something in her eyes. He didn't know what, but it was _something_. Tyler was lost in thought for a moment before he realized that _everyone_ was suddenly looking at him. It didn't click until after his mild panic attack that it was now his turn. Once he pulled himself together he thought for a moment, but decided with ease on which scripture he wanted to point out.

"Romans 15:4," he stated. Everyone nodded, and everyone understood. That was quite a well known one, but good nonetheless.

When Tyler looked over at Josh, since now it was his turn, Josh was peering into Tyler with a pensive look. He decided that he didn't like that expression on Josh. It made him look worried, agitated, _scared_. Tyler responded with a questioning look, but Josh was lost in his own world.

"Joshua, sweetie?" Laura spoke gently. Josh near jumped out of his chair.

"Huh?.. what?" He was startled at first, but then saw that all nine other family members were awaiting his chance to share his thoughts. "Oh.. yea.. umm," he thought for a long while, and Tyler was beginning to wonder if he actually knew any scriptures, or even what the Bible was. "Mine is a.. a Proverb.." he said almost unsure. Clearly Tyler was mistaken. He was actually quite intrigued, now. "Proverbs 16:18.." he specified while locking eyes with Tyler. The dark smirk on his face told Tyler something wasn't right.

"Really Josh? That ones your favorite?" Ashley asked like she didn't believe a word he said, but when his smirk turned into an absolutely serious nod of his head, Ashley backed off.

"What's that one say Joshua?" His mother inquired. His smirk came back and he turned back to Tyler, staring him directly in the eyes.

"Pride goes before a crash, and a _pretentious_ spirit before a tumble."

' _Did...?...Did he just call me.. **pretentious**?_!' 

' _Was that seriously directed toward **me**_?! 

Tyler's eyes were as wide as the moon, and his mouth was open slightly. He was horribly offended, and he didn't even know why. He thought about it for a moment, wondering if maybe he was prideful.

' _Is that why Josh doesn't like me_?' 

Part of his brain was telling him he was going to have to work on that. The other part was telling him to give Josh a piece of his mind, but neither really prevailed, and he just ended up feeling confused. More talking ensued amongst the large family, but Tyler ignored all of it. He felt horrible now, and whatever relationship he thought he had going with Josh was thrown out the window. Not friends, not brother's, not even tolerable acquaintances. No, Tyler and Josh were officially enemies! That drew the line for them. Tyler couldn't fathom how Josh could judge him without barely knowing him. He tried his best not to judge Josh on his appearance, but apparently he didn't have the same qualities.

"Alrighty Dun-seph's!..." Chris laughed at his own word play, but literally _everyone_ cringed at the sound of it. "...umm.. yea, _anyway_  time to start packing up.. tomorrow's Monday and we all know what that means!" Everyone groaned at the man as he started packing up the food supplies. Tyler, despite not wanting to return to school, could not wait to get home. Of course, the fear of moving still loomed over him, but he'll deal with one problem at a time.

Everything was packed up and the kids were finishing the task of tearing down the tents. Tyler didn't even attempt to help Josh this time. When it came to the point where they all got into the car, (with the same boys in one car, girls in the other, arrangement) Tyler was about to snap. He wanted to yell at Josh to tell him that if he had a problem with him he should just confront him with it, rather than blatantly insulting him. Tyler sat as far away from Josh as possible, not even glancing at him once, for fear of coming undone in his face. The poor boy bottled up his emotions, and fell asleep to blurry trees whizzing by.

  
**************

  
Cold. Hungry. Scared.

Scared.

That's how he felt.

His feet were moving and he didn't want them to. He wanted to stop. He wanted to see where he was going, but he didn't. He kept running. He would turn his head, and all he would see was trees. Trees, dirt, and his feet. He was weaving between them, trying to find a way out, but was failing.

He felt like a failure. 

He kept running, and he kept coming up with one thing. Trees.

A voice finally was able to put a stop to his legs, as he came to a halt. He didn't understand what the voice said, but it was loud. Booming and dark. The world was spinning, and the trees were whirling around him, and he couldn't find a way out.

Cold. Hungry. Scared... and alone.

He was alone.

" _It should have been you_.." a voice whispered in the back of his head as he was pulled from the trees into an atmosphere that only surrounded him with black.

" _Tyler_..." It whispered again. He grabbed his head and shook violently back and forth. Fear and frustration coursing through him. " _Tyler_!.." 

" _No stop! Stop! Please STOP_!" 

"Tyler! Come on, son, wake up."

Tyler peeled his heavy eyelids up off his foggy eyes, and tried to will himself awake. When he lifted his head just barely a millimeter from where it was resting he immediately felt all feeling returned to his face. He shifted slightly only to have his vision blocked with a bright pastel blue color. A split second later both Tyler and Josh were jumping away from each other at light speed, with faces as red as rubies. The awkward realization that they were probably in that position for awhile, and all the other guys saw it, made Tyler even more embarrassed if that were possible.

"Mr. Josh, I do believe we have arrived at you and Jordan's stop," Chris said like a formal taxi driver. He smiled at the boy, and that's when Tyler realized that all the boys were asleep, and it was dark outside.

"Oh.. uh.. thanks for..umm.. Thanks for the whole trip Mr. Joseph, that was actually.. kind of.. enjoyable," Josh stuttered out with his voice all raspy with sleep.

"Of course Josh! Thanks for joining us! I can't wait to get to know all of you even more," Chris beamed at his new stepson, and Tyler just rolled his eyes at his window, sinking further into it. Josh grabbed his bags, and Jordan's bags, and then woke up the poor kid sleeping in the back. After Jordan sleepily stumbled out of the car, Josh turned back to Chris.

"Have a goodnight Chris, thanks again." Josh waved lazily at the man and then turned to Tyler. "Goodnight Tyler.." he said so softly that Tyler barely even caught it. He turned to blue haired enigma that stood smiling at him outside the car, with wide eyes as he concluded that this boy definitely had some issues with being nice at night, and a total jerk during the day. Tyler had no desire to reply in any way so he just continued to stare, dumbfounded. Josh looked away in defeat, and then shut the door. He and Jordan began their trek back to their apartment, and Tyler watched them.

"Until another day.." Tyler whispered to himself, as his father finally started to head back over to their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo.. this was quite religious, I know.. sorry if your not a Christian and don't really understand.. or if you do or whatever I don't know.. I am one sooo... it will definitely come into the plot later.. there is always a reason why I write stuff [^~^] thanks for putting up with me.


	9. New House Keys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO IM BACK NOW.. life is shit.. like seriously people were dumping their toilets on me theses past months. But I'm writing again I promise! I couldn't abandon this fic if I tried. It means too much to me.

"He sounds like a prick," Brendon concluded with his mouth full of a ham and cheese sandwich that Tyler made him. Tyler had just finished giving Brendon the 'deats' on his camping trip. His expression seemed uninterested, but he was just focused more on his sandwich.

"He is!" Tyler agreed. He shook his head with annoyance in his eyes as he sipped his Capri Sun. "I mean... _do you_ think I'm pretentious?" Tyler asked in a huff, waving his arms around.

"Dude.. I don't even know what that means," Brendon stated blandly and then continued with his half eaten lunch.

"Like, uh.. prideful.. wait.. lemme look up the definition," he pondered before pulling his phone out. He wasn't quite sure either, but he had an idea. It took him a second to find his safari app, but once he did he was quick to type his query. "Pretentious," he started to read aloud so that Brendon could hear too. "..attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, or culture, than is actually possessed."

Brendon burst out into a fit of cackles, holding his stomach and the table for support. Tyler's expression looked like the emoji with flat eyes and a flat mouth as he watched his only friend wheezing over his lunch.

"That sounds.."  _laughter_  "..just like you.." Brendon choked out in-between his chuckles.

"Woooooow.. thanks Bren!" Tyler deadpanned, and rolled his eyes as Brendon continued to laugh at him. After a few minutes doubt started to settle into Tyler's bones, and he thought that maybe it did sound like him. "... do.. do you think that's why he doesn't like me?" Tyler whispered as his friends laughter died down. Brendon caught sight of Tyler's fear filled expression, and immediately felt bad for laughing.

"Oh Tyjo, my man, I was just kidding. I didn't-"

"No you weren't," Tyler deflated. All anger dissipated as he contemplated what he must have done to make Josh view him in such a way.

"Dude, y'know what? Who cares what he thinks.. he's just a weird douche bag.. he barely knows you, so it's wrong for him to judge. And even though he's your brother now, that doesn't mean you have to be friends with him!" Brendon waved his arms all around to emphasize his words, trying to convince the poor boy moping across from him.

"Yeah.. I guess. I just.. I don't know.. I don't know what I feel.." Tyler carded his fingers through his hair, tugging every once and awhile to try and relive his oncoming headache.

"Let me tell you something right now Tyler, you're gonna be living in the same house with that guy.. this really is only the beginning of the hell you are going to have to go through."

What Tyler didn't know yet, was how right Brendon was. But he had soon to find out.

  
***************

  
They weren't poor. But they weren't rich either.

Because of this Tyler didn't have many belongings. Even as a kid he never really acquired any toys, and if he did he just ended up handing them down to his siblings. Currently he just had his clothes, his bed, and his basketball trophies he had won over the years. He had his camera and his photo albums, and his old basketball that he would never part with. The rest of the room was his brother's, and Zack didn't have many items either, so it was pretty easy to move out of.

He was currently in the middle of packing up his small amount of possessions in his room to move into the new house. He had started with his clothes, and then his small amount of electronics that he had. He cleared his shelves, emptied drawers, and organized their desk. It only took about two hours before both boys were finished, and the room was nearly empty.

After triple checking to make sure they had everything, they started to help their father move the big furniture into the moving truck first. Once all of that was packed up, they loaded in all the boxes.

"Tyler, did you still want to keep this? We can give it to the goodwill or something. Maybe even sell it on eBay?" Chris questioned as he held up a rectangular box that was almost as tall as him. Tyler felt his blood turn to ice at his father's words.

"W-what? Mom gave me that, dad.. w-why would I-"

"I-I know, but Tyler, you never used it. It's still in the box, and-"

"No.. I was going to set it up in my new room, and I was going to teach myself to play, and I was going to make time to learn. I really want to learn, dad. I don't want to get rid of it. Mom bought it for me and.. and I can't just give it away.. and I don't even have that many belongs.. and-" Tyler rambled on before getting cut off again by his father.

"Okay! Okay, Tyler, you can keep it. I didn't know you wanted to learn so badly. Sorry I suggested."

Tyler quickly walked over to his father and gently lifted the keyboard off the ground. He carried it into the truck and secured a safe place so it wouldn't get knocked around while driving. Almost on the verge of tears, Tyler took in deep, sharp breaths to push away his initial panic. There was no way he was going to part with the instrument now. He was shocked his father even thought to suggest such a thing.

Once everything was packed up, and the truck was full, the Joseph family all stood in their front lawn, staring at their old house, and let out a simultaneous sigh. For Chris the sigh was from the stress of moving, and the ending of a chapter in his life. For Zack it was him trying his best not to burst into tears, and for Maddy and Jay it was from the relief of finishing such a big task.

Tyler, though, he sighed for a different reason. He sighed because he knew that this house was officially someone else's, and he would most likely never see the interior again. For him it was the memories rushing in from all the times he would run around in the front yard. The time he broke his wrist while learning to skateboard on the driveway. The front door that he and his mother painted white. The bench swing that would put him to sleep at night when his mother would sing soft lullabies. The garage door that was dented from the times he would bounce his basketball against it.

This house was his entire life.

And now, it will be someone else's.

All five members of the family entered the house a final time to say goodbye. To take in the memories while they could. But seeing the house without furniture, big, empty.. cold, it wasn't the same.

Tyler took pictures. Pictures of every room. Just in case he forgot what color the walls were, or if the fireplace was on the left or right. None of that really mattered, of course, but he still took pictures.

And then just like that, Chris locked up the house, and they headed for their new house to start a new life.

  
****************

  
"Alright! The fun begins!" Chris chirped as he unlocked their new front door with their new house keys. All eight kids waiting on the porch in anticipation. Tyler was the only one, besides Chris and Laura, who had seen the inside. Once the door was open the four youngest kids raced inside eager to explore their new home. Zack and Ashley walked in cautiously, almost as if they were expecting a ghost to jump out of no where. But to everyone's surprise they both looked impressed by the new house. Josh just walked in with his face plastered to the screen of his phone, barely even looking where he was going. The chorus of "oohh's" and "aahh's" from the kids made Tyler smile. It was a pretty impressive house.

"Ok kids! Lets go figure out which rooms you'll have! There's only three so you'll have to share," Laura said as she grabbed the kids attention. Tyler figured he'd just be sharing a room with Zack again, and that was ok. He wasn't super happy about it. He would've liked to have some space from the guy since they've pretty much been sharing everything since his birth. But if he's lived with it most of his life, then he can live with it for a while longer.

Kids are kids of course. So that meant that they were all arguing about who should get which room. And because this arguing lasted way longer than it should have, the parents eventually had to step in.

"Ok! So this is what I was thinking!" Chris announced over the babbling. "The three girls can have the room closest to the bathroom since that has a nice sized closet. The three youngest boys can have the room closest to our room, and then Josh and Tyler can have the one on the end."

"What?!" Five different people said that in different toned voices.

Three were the girls. One was Josh. And one was Zack.

"But the room on the end is the biggest, and you're going to have just two people in there instead of three? That doesn't make sense!" Abby crossed her arms and glared at the man in irritated confusion.

"Well, Tyler and Josh are the oldest, and I think they deserve slightly more space. I think it's very fair actually, and-"

"Tyler and I have to share a room! W-we have to.. you can't just.. just-" Zack was near the edge of a massive panic attack, and Tyler felt terrible for being relieved at his father's decision.

"I think it would be best if you stayed with the two troublemakers here, Zack.. make sure they get to bed on time, and what not," Chris teased the younger boys while explaining to Zack why this was the best decision.

"Josh can do that. Me and Tyler can have the room on the end," Zack concluded firmly, but his father had already made up his mind.

"Well, that's not very fair to Josh, now is it Zack?"

"B-but d-d-dad.." Zack's lip quivered as he held back sobs.

"That's the end of it now. No more arguing. Let's start unpacking, yea?" Chris clapped his hands and gazed at the other somewhat satisfied faces. "Ok! Last one to the truck is a rotten egg!" He squealed, and all but Josh, Tyler, and Zack ran for the truck.

"Why didn't you have my back?!" Zack flipped around to glare at Tyler through his tears. And even though Tyler's heart was ripped into pieces from the sight of his brother's weeping, Tyler for once _stood his ground_.

"I... I think dad's decision made a lot of sense.." Tyler said staring at the plush carpet. Just because he stood his ground didn't mean he was confident though. He still felt guilty for hurting Zack.

" _I hate you_!"

And damn. That hurt.

Tyler's eyes snapped up at his brother's enraged eyes as they flooded with more tears. They just looked at each other for a second before Zack went barreling down the stairs, presumably to go cry, as he so often did.

"You.. you're ok with us sharing a room?" Josh asked hesitantly. Tyler spun around to him, still in shock from Zack's outburst, and looked up at him.

"Huh?"

"Like.. I'm ok with being with the younger kids if you-"

"NO!.. i mean.. no.. it's fine. I think my dad was right. It's fair. The girls get a bigger closet, Jay is closer to my dad's room, and we're the oldest and get the bigger room. I think it's fine."

"Oookk.." Josh said slowly, slightly confused by Tyler's adamancy.

"..Look, I've just been sharing my whole life with that kid. I feel more like his mom than his brother, and I just think it would be best if we didn't share a room."

"Best for him.. or for you?" Josh asked smugly, as he crossed his arms.

"For both of us.. he needs to grow up, and I need to.. I don't know... live my own life!" Tyler emphasized the last part with a huge grin and a content sigh.

"Ok.. makes sense, I guess." He still sounded suspicious, but eventually dropped it.

  
*************

  
If you thought packing up was hard, then you've never had to unpack before. Because honestly, it's tiring both mentally and physically.

They all unloaded the smaller boxes first and tried their best to decipher which room they belonged in. Kitchenware in the kitchen. Toiletries in the bathrooms. Decorations in the living room, or until decided differently. Laura worked on getting the kitchen organized as Chris worked on his new office room, the kids on a variety of different rooms, and after about three hours they were all starting to get really tired.

"Alright guys we can unpack all the boxes tomorrow, let's just get this furniture inside," Chris said toward everyone, but mainly meant Josh and Tyler since they were the strongest in the group.

They pulled in the mattresses, the couches, the kitchen table, and other random furniture items. By the end of all that, Laura had set up the beds and got all the little children ready for bed. The girls were asleep, and the boys were still trying to make space in their room since it was the smallest, and three mattresses pretty much took up the whole room. Tyler had discovered that Abby and Ashley had a bunk bed, and that seemed to save a lot of space.

"Maybe we could put a bunk bed in the boys room, dad. I think that would help save space."

"Yea, but that desk still has to fit inside there and it's still pretty cramped even if we had a bunk bed," Chris rubbed his temples. It was pretty late. Almost midnight, and these kids had school in the morning.

"Why don't you give Zack and Jay a bunk bed, and then Jordan one of those bunk beds with a desk underneath?"  
  
Chris contemplated for a moment, nodding his head. "That's a good idea. I'll ask Laura what she thinks. Thanks Ty," Chris smiled sleepily at his son. "Alright, bed time, you all have school in the morning." And with that he went into his room.

Tyler shrugged, he felt tired physically, but he was actually still wide awake. He made his way to his new room, and found Josh, frantically searching through boxes.

"Missing something?"

"Uh.. yeah.. have you seen my.. uh" he quickly jumped across the room to a different box and started rummaging through it.

"Your what?"

"My headphones.. I thought for sure I put them with my books and stuff."

Tyler just shook his head no and grabbed his phone off his bedside table before plopping onto his bed. "Nope, haven't seen them. Sorry dude," he apologized as he aimlessly looked at his phone.

"It's..it's fine. I'm gonna go ask Jordan. He takes them sometimes. And I found my box of books in their room, so maybe he just grabbed them, I don't know." He seemed agitated, and Tyler wondered why they were so important. He hoped Josh wouldn't burst into a fit of anger. He already knew he had somewhat of a short fuse.

Josh made his way into the boys room where Jay seemed to be half asleep already. Zack was pulling some clothes out, and Jordan was on his bed reading.

"Hey Jojo.. did you take my headphones recently?"

"The red ones? No.. haven't seen them."

"Are you sure, because-" Josh cut himself off as he glanced over at Zack to see he had a very smug little smirk on his face. Josh was trying his hardest not to flip out. He took two steps toward Zack and got up in his face, anger rolling of him is waves. "Did you take my headphones?"

"I don't know what your talking about," Zack said plainly, smirk still present.

Josh snapped.

He grabbed the boy's shirt by the collar and yanked him hard. "You think this is _funny_?! Give me back my headphones!"

" _Let go of me! I don't have you stupid headphones_!"

Tyler heard the commotion from his room and raced over. He saw Josh shoving Zack into a wall, Jay was crying, Jordan was pleading with his brother to stop, and suddenly all Tyler saw was _red_. He shoved Josh off of his little brother. _Hard_. So hard that Josh fell backwards and sufficiently bruised his head on Jordan's bed frame.

"Don't you _ever_ ," Tyler jutted his index finger at Josh, in a sign of warning," EVER! Put your hands on my siblings _ever again_!"

Zack ran out of the room and they all heard the bathroom door slam shut. Tyler glared at Josh the whole time to ensure he got the point. As soon as Josh's gazed drifted to the caramel colored carpet in defeat. Tyler ran up to comfort his crying brother, telling him it would all be ok. Josh got up and speed walked to their room. Shame evident on his face. Maybe something else too? Fear? Tyler brushed away the thought as he sang to his little brother, soothing him back to sleep.

As Tyler was leaving the room Jordan spoke up.

"I'm sorry. He just loses it sometimes," he seemed scared as well, and Tyler, being a good brother, went over and hugged him.

"It's ok. You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault."

Tyler tapped on the bathroom door to try and make peace with Zack. But when silence followed, he decided to just give him some space. He entered his new room and saw that Josh was curled up on his bed with his back to Tyler. Tyler just sighed and shook his head.

' _I guess Brendon was right. It's gonna be hell_.' 

Tyler shook his head again, and huffed out a humorless laugh as he fished through his pockets. He almost felt bad, but not really. Once he pulled out what he was looking for he examined it for a moment.

He shrugged and then put the ruby colored headphones into his drawer right beside his bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! 
> 
> Let's start making bets. 
> 
> Top!Josh or Top!Tyler?
> 
> Don't forget to mention what you are betting..
> 
> For example "Sally bets her last shred of insanity that Josh will top.." or "Max bets his rarest marble that Tyler will top.." 
> 
> I don't know have fun with it! XD


	10. Drown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CHALUPA IM BACK GUYS!!!! The hiatus kicked my butt, and I tried soooo freaking hard to find inspiration for this story, but I failed.. epically! BUT I'm back and I'm READY!! :D

He swayed from side to side. His heartbeat raced and his breathing was shallow. The feeling originated in the base of his spine. The feeling of drifting tickled his skin. The swimming motion followed his spine all the way to his brain, causing him to feel dizzy all over again.    
  
He was laying down. The room was swaying, bobbing... floating.   
  
He was on a boat.    
  
He sat up with great difficulty, feeling a stirring in his gut. His limbs were weak and wobbly. He tried his best to stand, but tumbled to the wall. The force of gravity working together with the waves underneath the vessel, causing him to stumble. Trying to regain control, he pushed off the wall and walked into a hallway. His feet carried him on jelly-knee legs, making him sway along with the boat.    
  
The lights in the hallway were dim and cold. A blue hue encased the entire room. The metal of the walls were freezing against his hand as he tried to remain upright. His guts feeling like they are rolling around, twisting into a ball.   
  
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he saw water seeping in through the seams in the walls, slowly growing in pressure. The floor quickly became a four inch deep puddle of ice cold water. He saw his breath coming out of his mouth in huffs.    
  
The walls were creaking and soon more water pushed through the walls.    
  
There were no doors, and he couldn't turn back.    
  
There was no way out.    
  
Not long after his frantic search for an escape, the water was reaching his neck.   
  
"Help! Please, someone! Anyone!?" He plead, as the water pushed him to the ceiling.    
  
All that he heard over the sound of rushing water was a faint whisper, echoing around what was left of the hallway.    


_I hate you!_   
  
He could barely hear as he was completely overcome with frigid water. The cold making his heart race. The water choking his lungs.    
  
And just before he could drown...   
  
...he woke up with a massive gasp of air.    
  
It took him a second to realize that he was actually burning up instead of freezing, and he was drenched in sweat. He gulped in deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. Once his eyes readjusted he didn't quite know where he was at first.    
  
His bed was in a different position.    
  
His window was much larger and on the left instead of the right.   
  
And Zack's bed.. wasn't Zack's bed.. it was Josh's.. because he and Josh shared a room.. and this was their new room... in their new house.    
  
Tyler sighed in relief once he deciphered where he was. He had finally caught his breath, and he felt like the effects of his dream were wearing off.    
  
Seconds later he felt guilt run over him with a truck. He almost felt like slapping himself for being so petty. He quickly, but very quietly, reached into his drawer and pulled out Josh's headphones.    
_  
_ _'I'm such an idiot. Why did I take these in the first place? Gosh, there's something seriously wrong with me!'_   he thought as he silently untangled himself from his bed sheets and then got out of bed. He tiptoed toward Josh's bed and placed the red earbuds on his bedside table. He spun around quickly and then went back to sit on his mattress.    
  
After a minute of shaming himself for his childishness, he turned his head to look out his new, massive, window and saw the sun was just starting to peer over the mountain. He leaned over to grab his phone to check the time and saw that it was five in the morning, about an hour before his alarm was going to go off.    
  
But of course he didn't feel like sleeping anymore so he decided to get up and get ready for the day. He grabbed a plain black shirt and his black basketball shorts, and headed downstairs to the blood red bathroom to take a shower. He liked it better because, well first of all the bathroom was super cool and also, it had just a stand-up shower instead of a tub shower. He didn't know why he preferred that, but he just did.    
  
Once he was dressed and ready to go he double checked to make sure he had all his homework in order. At about six o'clock he heard Maddy climbing down the stairs and heading straight for the TV for her morning cartoons. Unfortunately they hadn't set up the TV yet so she had to have a morning without cartoons for once.   
  
"Awww but today's Wednesday! That means Paw Patrol is on!" She whined.    
  
Tyler cringed internally. He hated that cartoon. It was more stupid than Barney. In his opinion of course.    
  
"Why don't you go outside and explore your new backyard instead? I'll make you some cereal," Tyler offered, and Maddy jumped at the idea.    
  
"Ooo yea! Ok.. I'll be back in a minute for the cereal!"   
  
Tyler smiled as his sister skipped her way outside and disappeared from his view. He got her cereal ready and then, knowing his family, made one for Jay and Zack. He wasn't really hungry so he just decided an apple will suffice. He was making everyone's lunch, and of course that meant Brendon too, when Jordan came down and greeted everyone.    
  
"Good morning, new family that I'm not used to seeing in the mornings yet!" He quipped as he yanked a banana off the bunch and started scarfing it down like his life depended on it.    
  
"Good morning, youngest stepbrother. I hope you don't plan on eating that whole banana in front of me.." Tyler retorted, feeling slightly queasy from the sight.    
  
"Pffft.. you're just like Josh.. geez" he said before sitting at the dining table and pulling a book out of nowhere.    
  
Soon the parents came down with a very tired looking Jay, and very zombie looking Zack. Tyler was pretty sure neither of them got much sleep. Tyler handed Jay his cereal, and Zack took his without a word or glance in Tyler's direction. Tyler actually felt bad for being _happy_ that Zack was giving him the silent treatment. He  _really_ didn't want to have a long, emotional, conversation with him right now, nor did he want to deal with his crap, so Tyler actually smiled when Zack snubbed him.    
  
Last to come down the stairs was Ashley and Abby. They came down with their arms full of books and what looked like school supplies. Tyler had almost forgot that all these kids were actually homeschooled. They had set up little spots on the kitchen table so they could start studying. It was actually pretty nice, in Tyler's opinion.    
  
Checking the clock Tyler realized that the walk to school was just a bit farther than what it was before, so he decided he'd leave now to make sure he got there a bit early.   
  
What?    
  
Tyler was an overachiever.    
  
Let him be.    
  
"Hey Tyler, I'm headed to work so I can bring the kids to school. If you want you can come with us," Laura had grabbed Tyler's arm as he was securing his backpack onto his back.    
  
"Oh ok. I'm good actually. Walking helps me get into the right mindset before school."   
  
Zack scoffed a few feet away. Apparently thinking the reason Tyler didn't want to go was because they were avoiding each other. Which actually, was another good reason.    
  
"Ok well, be safe sweetie."   
  
Tyler cringed at the name when she turned around.    
  
Just before he was walking out the door he remembered that his phone was still upstairs and he should probably grab a hoodie or something since it was like thirty degrees out. He raced up the steps and hopped over to his room. Once he entered he grabbed his phone and black hoodie, before spinning around and ramming right into his blue haired stepbrother. And by the looks of it the blue was starting to fade lightly. Tyler's initial shock wore off and he regained his composure.    
  
"Oh sorry, I was kinda in a rush.. didn't mean to run into you there," he apologized as he backed up a bit. Josh eyes were downcast and his expression looked like he was genuinely worried about something. Tyler followed his gaze to his hands and saw that Josh was holding his headphones.    
  
Tyler's expression hardened as he prepared for whatever Josh was going to say. He was ready. He deserved to be yelled at and shoved against the wall. He was trying to prepare an explanation when Josh's eyes slowly made their way to meet Tyler's.    
  
"Y-you.. you had them?" He stuttered out. Looking more confused than anything. Tyler just thought for a moment of how he could apologize, but came up with nothing.    
  
"Yea.."   
  
Eloquent.    
  
Josh just looked down again and then walked away.    
  
He walked away without a word.    
  
He didn't even seem mad.    
  
Just.. blank.   
  
Tyler took the opportunity and ran. Quite literally actually.    
  
Once he was outside he took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, and prepared to be alone for twenty minutes.    
  
  
***************   
  
  
"Oh my god, she's so hot!"    
  
Tyler face was screwed up in concentration as he was desperately trying to open his locker, without any luck, as Brendon ogled one of the cheerleaders that was passing by.    
  
"Dude... do you think I should ask her out?"   
  
"Uh.." Tyler yanked a couple more times on his lock until it finally opened, then he took a deep breath and reassessed Brendon's question. "Oh.. uh.. who was it again?"    
  
"Sarah Elizabeth Orzechowski..," Brendon swooned as he gazed upon the girl. Tyler just rolled his eyes.   
  
"Yea.. I don't think she'll want to date someone who has stalked her social media, just to find out her middle name!" Tyler teased, but Brendon's face fell, and it was replaced with terror. "Oh god, you _actually_ stalked her just to find out her middle name?"   
  
" _No!_ I just found her Instagram and it was on her description.. that's all..," Brendon defended, but his eyes still looked guilty, so Tyler just rolled his eyes again. Brendon then decided he was going to fight back. "Don't think I don't know how you stalk Jenna's Instagram and all that, you're just as guilty as me bro!"   
  
"Oh so you admit that you stalk Sarah then?" Tyler beamed as he caught Brendon with his own words. Brendon just squirmed and searched for words.   
  
"I-l... y-you.. I don't.. _you know what?.._ whatever Tyler! I never needed your advice anyway!"    
  
Tyler watched in amusement as Brendon stomped away down the hallway, and then stopped. He begrudgingly turned back around, and walked back over to Tyler with his head down. Once he was an arms length away he reached out and held his hand open, a pout prominent on his face.    
  
"Can I have my lunch?"    
  
  
*************   
  
  
After the day was over Tyler found himself back at his troublesome locker. He was going to put his books away, and then head to the gym for basketball practice. After ten minutes of frustration he finally got the lock to open when he heard a soft voice behind him.    
  
"Hey Ty! Headed to practice?"   
  
It was Jenna.    
  
Tyler froze, and he tried his best to act natural as he spun around to see her standing closer than he thought. She was in her cheerleading outfit, because she was a cheerleader.. obviously. And you'd think that Tyler wouldn't find himself crushing on that type of person, but Jenna was more than that. Not only was she a cheerleader, but she was also a mathlete, and in drama class, and she was also a beautiful writer. She wrote short stories, and poems. She volunteered at the homeless shelter, and petitioned for things that stood for something. She was the kindest person in the entire school.   
  
And she was also the prettiest.    
  
The most beautiful human Tyler had met.   
  
Inside and out.   
  
Her large and impossibly blue eyes searched his face through her thick black framed glasses. After what felt like an hour of just staring at her Tyler saw her cheeks tint pink, and his heart rate increased, waking him up from his dream-state.    
  
"Oh! Yes.. yea.. I-I am headed to practice, yes." He answered shakily. Finally.    
  
"Ok.. that's cool.. well, I guess I'll see around then," she stated awkwardly as she blushed again. Her arms were wrapped tight around the textbooks she was holding, pressing them close to her chest.    
  
"Yea.. see around..," he waved a little, and she just started to back away. Blushing as she waved back.   
  
Once she was out of sight he fell back onto the lockers and let his heart race. He loved it when she would do that. Randomly come up to him to say hi. It made him feel like maybe she had feelings for him too. His heart started to run a marathon again, and he just embraced it, welcoming the feeling of puppy love taking over his thoughts.    
  
  
*************   
  
  
After basketball practice Tyler was not looking forward to the walk home, but endured it nonetheless. He skipped over the idea of taking a shower at school since it would take extra energy, and Tyler was already extremely tired. He just wanted to get home and go to bed. When he finally reached the house he marched up the stairs and trotted across the hallway to his room. Upon entering he made a beeline for his bed, tossing his backpack on the floor, and then face planting into the pillows.    
  
He laid there, resting his muscles for a minute before running out of oxygen and needing to turn his head. When he reopened his eyes there was another pair across the room staring at him. There was pure silence for a moment until Tyler started to feel uncomfortable with his stepbrother’s questioning expression.    
  
“What?..” Tyler snapped, still lying motionless on his bed.    
  
Josh shrugged in an answer, and then slowly turned back to his schoolwork, judgement evident in his eyes. Tyler rolled his eyes and groaned as loudly as he could.. trying to figure Josh out was proving to be much harder than he expected. He wanted Josh to be mad at him for taking his headphones, or make fun of him for face planting into his pillows, but no… he was silent. That bugged Tyler. He didn't like silence.    
  
He willed his body to get out of bed so he could wash up before dinner, but curiosity raked over him as he pulled out a clean set of clothes. He cautiously stepped closer to Josh, peering over him to see what he was working on. It seemed like some sort of math assignment. Reading over his shoulder he could see that Josh was pretty good at whatever he was doing. Tons of notes and side calculations were surrounding what looked like the main assignment. Tyler was impressed and nodded as he watched the blue-haired boy scribbling down numbers. Tyler could see little signs that Josh was aware of his looming presence, and he started to get flustered. He finally broke and whipped around to face Tyler, making the brunette jump backwards slightly.    
  
“Can I h-help you?” Josh tried to seem intimidating with his arms crossed over his chest, but something in his little stutter told Tyler he wasn't as confident as he made out to be.    
  
“No..no just lookin’ at what your doin’… seems cool.. advanced math?” He fiddled a little with the clean outfit he had in his hands still.    
  
“Calculus,” Josh stated. His voice darker, and more steady this time.    
  
“Wow.. that's cool.. I guess,” Tyler tried. He was terrible at math and avoided it at all costs. Josh rolled his eyes dramatically and then swiveled back around in his chair to continue his work. Tyler took that as a way to move on from the conversation. He made his way downstairs, and headed for the red bathroom to shower and change for dinner.    
  
  
*************   
  
  
Laura had made lasagna for dinner, and all ten of the new family members are settled around the table enjoying her homemade creation.    
  
“Well this is a wonderful first meal to have in our new house,” Chris complimented his new wife. She smiled and thanked him. Everyone was eating in silence, and it was slightly uncomfortable. The clanking of silverware was eerily filled with tension. Chris watched the kids and saw all their expressions. Tyler seemed to be the least irritated, and more passive, so Chris decided to direct conversation toward him. “So Tyler… how was basketball practice?”   
  
Tyler snapped out of a daze that he was in, and then forced his mind to catch up with itself. “Oh uh.. practice?.. yeah it was good.. yeah,” he nodded, still collecting his thoughts.    
  
“Still better than all those other pretenders, right?” His father winked at him, smirking afterward. Tyler just smiled and turned back to his cheesy pasta. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Josh roll his eyes at his father's comment.    
  
Tyler's smile dropped.    
  
That familiar feeling of being disliked sunk Tyler's heart into his stomach.    
  
“You think you're ready for the semi-finals coming up this weekend?” Chris continued, oblivious to Tyler's dismay. It took a second for Tyler to work up the energy to reply.    
  
“Uh.. yea.. I guess,” he stated quietly pushing his lasagna around.    
  
“You guess? Come on Tyler.. remember what we always say, ‘the best or nothin’!’.. I don't want to hear that you're slacking in anyway. You have to be motivated son!” Chris said, trying to encourage the boy, but it came out as reproof. Tyler shrunk in his chair a little at his words.    
  
“Yeah.. ok,” Tyler mumbled.   
  
“Speak up boy, say it like you mean it!”   
  
“Yes!.. Ok!.. I'll work hard to be the best!” Tyler snapped, dropping his fork and letting it clank on the table. Tyler was officially put off of his meal, and completely done with all conversation.    
  
Laura stared at her new husband in surprise, and tried her best not to interject. Her worried glances toward Tyler told him that she didn't really agree with Chris, and Josh was staring at the table with a very confused look written on his face. The other kids were staring silently at their food.   
  
Tyler took a very deep breath, wishing he could read minds rather than trying to decipher people's expressions. It was exhausting, and he was already very tired. The truth was that Tyler did really work hard in basketball, in everything actually, and he only wanted to seem uninterested because he was tired of being pegged as prideful to Josh. He didn't know why he cared so much about his opinion, but he did, and he wanted Josh’s opinion of him to be a favorable one.    
  
Chris nodded at Tyler's response, “Good, that's what I like to hear.” With that he turned to his food and then directed conversation to his youngest son. “So Jay, learn anything new in school today?”   
  
Tyler tuned out his baby brother's answer, and just found a patch of carpet to stare at until dinner was over. Once everyone was finished, the four oldest kids were told to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes. Tyler worked on auto-pilot as he dried the dishes and handed them to Ashley to put away. Once everything was done he wordlessly made his way upstairs to his room.    
  
His whole headed was fuzzy and disoriented, and he felt one of his notorious migraines crawling up his temple. Plopping himself on his bed he felt his muscles sink into the fluffy blankets and melt into the sheets. His whole body was heavy from exhaustion, and he was just about to lose consciousness when a loud scoff rung out in the room. Tyler forced himself to look up, only to see Josh walking over to his bed, and plugging his phone into it's charger.    
  


“Oh my gaaaauuud..!” Tyler groaned, rolling over to sit up. Josh looked up at him with his brows creased in confusion. “What the _hell_ do you have against me dude?” Josh’s entire face scrunched up with bewilderment. 

****

“W-what are you talking about?” Josh smirked, half confused, half amused. 

****

“ _W-what am I talking about?_ " Tyler mocked. “Oh I don't know, the constant eye rolling, the snappy attitude, completely ignoring me one minute, and then the next you insult me using the _Bible_?!" Tyler shrugs as he tries to put as much hate into his questioning facial expression as possible. 

****

Josh looks down to the floor giggling. 

****

Freaking giggling.

****

With his tongue between his teeth, and dimples digging into his cheeks. He shakes his head and turns toward his dresser, and pulls out a pair of grey sweats, getting ready for bed. Tyler watches him completely dumbfounded. 

****

“You think this is funny?” Tyler asks, still in shock.

****

“Yeah, I mean, I can't believe you realized I aimed that at you,” he giggled again, but this seemed less humorous than the last. 

****

“Yeah! Yeah I caught it alright.” Tyler glared at the back of his head. “I want to know why you hate me so much,” Tyler crossed his arms and insisted like a child. 

****

“Why I hate you?.. Dude if you don't get it by now you are the stupidest idiot I've ever met!” Josh fired back this time with hate in his eyes as well. Tyler took immediate offense and felt the need to stand up and defend himself. So he slipped off his bed and folded his arms, ready for a fight.

****

“Well then I guess I'm an idiot because I have no freaking idea! You barely know _anything_ about me!”

****

“ _Exactly!_ I know nothing about you and now _suddenly_ I'm your _brother!_ ”

****

“Oh come on! That can't be the only reason! I'm mad about that too, but I didn't use the word of _God_ to insult you in front of your entire family!” Josh was about to say something, but Tyler butted in raising his voice a notch louder. “I mean look at you! You look like a total _criminal_ , but I didn't go quoting scriptures toward _you_! I didn't think about that when-”

****

“Oh really?” Josh sneered, cutting Tyler off. “ _Come on_ , Tyler, I know _exactly_ what type of guy you are." 

****

Tyler was taken aback by Josh’s glare. He let his words sink in before replying, “..Enlighten me!” 

****

Josh raised an eyebrow, as if he was studying Tyler for a moment, before mimicking his stance. “Well let's see, shall we..” he raised his hands up and began counting on his fingers. “Plays basketball, is popular in school, has perfect hair.. I mean, you’re basically Troy Bolton, dude!” Josh goes back to his original stance only this time with a smirk on his face as Tyler's mouth drops to the ground.

****

“Are.. are you calling me a jock?”

****

“Yes.. that's exactly what I’m calling you! And I just so happen to despise arrogant jerks like you!” he shrugs, expression neutral. Tyler was so upset and he didn't even know why. How could this total punk-emo-goth, blue-haired, tattooed (dare he say it) _freak_ , judge him like that? 

****

“I’m not exactly sure where you’ve gotten your information from _Josh_ , but that is very low coming from someone like _you_!”

****

“I know a jock when I see one, trust me! And you are the worst kind!” Josh shakes his head, finished with the conversation. Tyler isn’t even near finished, and takes a step into Josh’s space.

****

“Oh _really_? And what kind is that?”

 

“The Christian kind.”

****

Tyler was losing it on the inside, but surprisingly keeping it together on the outside. His body language was still defensive, however, when he kept goading his stepbrother.

****

“Well then, I guess that makes you the worst kind of punk-emo kid then, too. Since you are Christian as well!” Josh rolled his eyes at Tyler's attempted come-back. So Tyler tried again. “At least I can go to Church without having a panic attack!”

****

Josh snapped his gaze over to Tyler who had a raised eyebrow. “Says the kid who suffers from personality-changing migraines!” Josh snapped, looking more and more irritated.

****

“Well at least I’m not so cripplingly shy that I have to be homeschooled!”

****

Josh looked genuinely hurt by that statement, and Tyler's heart sank for a second. There was a long tense pause before Josh looked down at the ground.

****

“You know, maybe it isn’t your fault you are the way you are.. It’s probably because your dad is such a huge jerk, forcing you to play basketball and everything.”

****

_What?!_  

****

“ _What?!_ " Tyler’s jaw was on the ground again. “My _dad_ just wants the best for me! And for your information I genuinely _love_ basketball!” Tyler realized he better stop before things got too far, but sadly was too late as the words fell out of his mouth without him thinking. “I mean, at least _my_ family didn’t expose me to the life of drug dealers and prostitutes!” 

****

Suddenly the whole room felt darker as Tyler realized it was finally dark outside, and there were no lamps on in the room. Not to mention the death glare he was receiving from his _very_ ticked off stepbrother. Tyler felt his heart pick up in speed as Josh began to close in on him. Tyler for some reason had a death wish since he continued speaking.

****

“I mean, she _says_ she's changed her ways since she has _‘found God’_ , but I’m sure her peppy attitude isn’t _solely_ from her prayers in the morning.”

****

Tyler didn't even believe what he was implying, and yet the words flew out into the room and fueled the fire in his step brother’s eyes.  

****

“Stop..” Josh’s voice came out raspy, and made the hair at the back Tyler's neck stand up. He felt the adrenaline pumping through him as he continued to back up from Josh. 

****

“How she managed to entice my upstanding father I will never know.”

****

Josh’s fists clenched as Tyler’s back finally hit the back of a wall with a thud. He immediately unfolded his arms, and let them fall to his sides as he rested his hands against the white drywall. For some unknown reason Tyler didn’t feel any fear. Even when he thought for _sure_ Josh was going to punch him square in the nose. Josh almost looked like he was going to walk away, but Tyler couldn’t have that! He wanted a reaction from Josh. Wanted to know his breaking point.

****

“..Tyler.. I swear..” Josh warned as he took one more step towards him, so close their chests almost touching. A smirk, deep and malicious, slowly grew on Tyler’s face. 

****

_One more jab!_  

****

“..I mean.. Do any of you  even have the same dad?” Tyler questioned almost in a whisper, genuinely curious. But that was the last straw for Josh. He gripped onto Tyler’s blue and purple Mickey Mouse shirt, pulling him slightly forward, and then _slamming_ him back into the wall. Tyler felt a shoot of pain on his head, but then shot shivers down his spine. He was internally confused as to why he felt so accomplished.

****

“Shut up! Just stop talking! How dare you talk about my mom like that!” Josh growled. Tyler swore he saw a flash of hurt in his enraged eyes, but it was too dark to really tell.

****

“I’m only cur-” Tyler was cut off as Josh rammed him into the wall again, this time so hard that Tyler thought maybe his skull cracked, and the blinding pain finally shut him up. As he blinked away the black spots in his vision, his eyes met with mocha ones. They were almost pleading as Josh’s grip loosened.

****

“You don’t know anything about us Tyler,” he whispered. His eyes drifting down to the ground. He let go of Tyler and began to retreat. Tyler was once again confused as he felt a sudden loss of excitement. “Don't you _ever_ talk about my mom like that again.” His voice was firm, and demanding. “You have no place to judge any of us.”

****

Josh turned around and grabbed a black hoodie from the floor, and then darted for the door, but before he could leave Tyler narrowed his eyes before having the last words.

****

“Right back at you, Josh.” 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of people probably forgot about this story, but I welcome everyone who is reading this! Thank you!


	11. Forgivness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took awhile.. I was determined to make it longer than 3k words. I was very disappointed with how short the last chapter was.. Hopefully this is better!

The sound of teenage conversations, and the bustling of a busy hallway was not helping the raging throb in Tyler's brain. He stood there in the hallway blankly staring at the few contents inside of his locker. He realized too late that he should have taken some painkillers before heading to school. The pain originated from the swelled lump at the back of his head, and spread to the back of his eyes. His thoughts were bouncing around like a bowling ball as he went over and over each word that was said the night before. 

 

Josh had left their shared room, and never came back. At least he didn't come back before Tyler had to go to school. Tyler had pretty much stayed up the whole night waiting for Josh to return so that he could apologize. He felt terrible for saying all those things about Laura. He knew she was a good person at heart, and he trusted her with his siblings care. Tyler was just frustrated, and tired of how cryptic Josh was being towards him. He knows it's ridiculous, but he hates it when he isn't liked by someone. It makes him feel like there's something missing in his personality, and he becomes self-conscious. Tyler knew, though, that there was no excuse. 

 

When the hours slipped by and Josh never came back, Tyler initially thought that maybe he just went downstairs and crashed on the couch. However, when Tyler went down in the living room that morning and found it empty, he started to feel anxiety creep into his mind. He tried to force himself not to worry about the blue-haired pain-in-the-neck, but his lack of sleep encouraged his thoughts to wander. 

 

“Ty… Tyler?... you there?” Brendon questioned. He was waving his hand in front of Tyler's face before finally grabbing his shoulder. “Ty? Are you ok?” Tyler flinched at his touch and nearly jumped off the ground two or three inches. Tyler suddenly came back to the reality of the school hallway, and his best friend shaking him slightly.

 

“Wha..? Huh? Oh, yeah I’m ok. My head just hurts is all,” Tyler instinctively reached for his head to rub the back of it, but hissed and recoiled his hand when he brushed over the bump under his hair. Brendon’s face morphed into concern, then he pulled Tyler forward to inspect his head.

 

“What happened? Did you hit it-- OH MY GOD!  _ Tyler _ ! ” Brendon shrieked into Tyler's sensitive ears as he examined the very large knob on his skull. “What happened?! You could have a concussion!” Brendon roughly flipped Tyler around, trying to inspect the bump closer.

 

“No I don’t think so. It happened last night, and I mean, I didn’t die in my sleep right?” Tyler reasoned as he pried Brendon off of him. Not that he really got much sleep anyway. 

 

“Ok, but seriously, what happened?” Brendon pushed. Tyler’s mind clearly wasn’t thinking straight since he really didn’t want to tell Brendon anything that happened the night before. Yet, once again his words came out before he could stop them. He looked down and started fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt.

 

“It really isn’t a big deal. Josh and I just got into a bit of a fight and-” Tyler’s slow and groggy sentence was cut off by a very angry sounding growl.

 

“WHAT?!  _ He  _ did this to you?!” Brendon’s fists clenched, and Tyler could tell he was trying his best to punch the lockers.

 

“Brendon calm down! Really, it’s not a big deal! I was asking for it anyway. It was stupid, and I feel really horrible about what happened. It’s all my fault, and now I feel like he will never forgive me, and he will hate me forever,” Tyler rambled on and forced himself to stop before he started crying right there in the school hallway. Brendon softened at Tyler's grief stricken eyes and his whole body physically relaxed.

 

“I’m sorry Tyler,” Brendon tried to comfort his friend as he tried his best not to let the liquid in his eyes fall onto his face. Tyler was _not_ going to cry over this. It’s just that a lot has been happening and he is sufficiently confused. Just as Brendon was going to say more, the school bell rang out signaling that they had three minutes to head to class. “Hey, we will talk more about this at lunch ok?” Brendon patted Tyler’s shoulder as he began to walk away from him. Tyler just nodded in reply. He didn’t _want_ to talk about it anymore. He wanted to forget it all.

  
  


*********************

  
  


Tyler was sitting quietly in the cafeteria waiting for Brendon. He was currently talking to Sarah. Well, more like stuttering to her. Tyler couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could tell by the way Brendon was flailing his hands all around that he was having trouble speaking clearly to her. Tyler smirked at his friend, and then began to stare into space.

 

No matter what he thought about, it _always_ came back around to _him_.

 

Tyler couldn’t unsee the hurt that flashed in Josh’s eyes at his unnecessary words. He felt like a bully. A big, dumb, basketball playing bul-

 

“Hey Ty!”

 

Tyler nearly fell out of his chair from how high he jumped. His capri sun got knocked over, but he grabbed it quickly before any of it contents could spill out. It was the gentle sound of Jenna’s voice ringing through his ears, pulling him out of his thoughts. He fidgeted nervously as she sat down next to him. 

 

“How are you?”

 

_Bless her, she looked concerned._  

 

“Um.. I’m.. I’m ok I guess..” He tried his best to meet her big blue eyes but couldn’t. Her eyebrows creased further as her concern grew on her face. 

 

“You aren’t your normally smiley self. Are you sure everything is ok?” She asked again, this time just barely resting her hand on his arm. She was wearing normal clothes today. Her white off-the-shoulder peasant blouse made her skin look almost as golden as his own. He looked up, and finally met her oceanic eyes. He wondered for a second if people actually viewed him as a happy, ‘smiley’, guy like she said.

 

“Yeah,” He smiled, hoping it looked genuine. “Yeah I’m ok, thanks Jenna.”

 

She smiled back, seeming happy with his answer, maybe even blushing a bit. 

 

“Ok well, I just wanted to inv-”

 

“Tyler! Tyler, Sarah just invited me to a party on Saturday!” Brendon wailed, efficiently cutting Jenna off. “She said that pretty much the whole grade is invited, and probably a few older kids as well!” It took a second for Brendon to notice Jenna, but as soon as he did, he froze. Tyler rolled his eyes at his overly boisterous friend.

 

“What were you going to say Jenna?” Tyler turned back to her, ignoring Brendon.

 

“Oh.. uh, actually I was g-going to invite you to the party,” she explained, a bit flustered. _Man I love her so much!_ He smirked as she squirmed a bit. 

 

“Oh, well thank you. When and where?” Tyler asked pulling out his phone getting ready to type out the details. He looked up at her when she wasn’t saying anything. She was just staring blankly at him. He raised his eyebrows slightly, still waiting for her to respond. 

 

“OH! Sorry, yeah.. Um.. It’s gonna be at Alum Creek beach, probably around eight?” She seemed caught off guard. Tyler blamed Brendon.

 

“Yeah, that's what Sarah said. Eight o’clock.” Brendon reassured her. She just nodded awkwardly in response, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Tyler tore his eyes away for a second so he could write it all down, regretting it immediately as he saw a blush taint her cheeks bright red out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Ok, awesome! Thanks for inviting me,” Tyler smiled at her again, teeth and all. 

 

“Wait so… you’ll go?” she asked, not certain.

 

“Yeah, hopefully.”

 

“OH! Awesome… o-ok. I guess I’ll see you there then!” She giggled as she got out of the chair she was sitting in. “Um.. bye then.”

 

“Bye Jenna.”

 

“See ya,” Brendon said at almost the same time as Tyler. After she was out of earshot, Brendon smirked wickedly, “Wow.. she is _really_ into you.”

 

“Shut up, dude!” Tyler smirked as he kicked Brendon lightly under the table. Brendon’s blinding grin sobered after a minute of silence. 

 

“So are you going to tell me more about what happened with your evil step brother?” Brendon’s tone sounded like he was teasing, but his face was riddled with worry. Tyler felt a heavy weight settle in his chest.

 

“No.”

 

It was a simple statement, and by the grace of God, Brendon seemed to understand.

  
  


********************

  
  


_Just go and apologize! It’s not that hard! Just walk in and say, ‘Hey dude! I’m really sorry for being a poop-head last night. Hope you don’t hate me!’... oh god, I hope he doesn’t think I’m being insincere… ugh! Whatever just… just_ do  _i_ _t!_

 

Tyler rolled his eyes at the meme of Shia Labeouf that popped into his head. He was currently standing right outside his shared room, psyching himself up. He was struggling to come up with a way to apologize, and be believable. He was genuinely sorry, but sometimes his apologies came out a little sarcastic, even when he didn’t mean it to be.

 

If someone were to come upstairs, or come out of their rooms they would see him and think he was having a mental breakdown with how much he was whispering to himself and pacing a bit. He finally decided to just peek and see if Josh was even inside the room, because that would be hilarious if he just bursted in there, and was met with no one. He pushed the door so lightly that the movement was nearly undetectable. Through the little crack in between the door jam and the edge of the door, Tyler could see Josh sitting at his desk with his feet tucked up, and his knees up to his chest. His one arm was hugging his legs close, while the other tattooed one scribbled on a piece of paper. Josh then moved his head to rest his chin on his knees, and Tyler felt a familiar tightening in his chest. He couldn’t identify what it was, but he had felt it before. Maybe even earlier today. Whatever the feeling was, it softened Tyler’s emotions toward this guy. 

 

Tyler silently opened the door the rest of the way, and then entered without a sound. He never had much confidence in his stealth, but it apparently wasn’t too bad. Josh continued to scribble out what looked like a math problem as Tyler finally decided that this isn’t the right moment to approach him. He looked like he was in deep concentration of what he was doing, and he looked almost peaceful, so Tyler just grabbed some clean clothes and left without a word.

 

After a quick shower Tyler went into the living room to see his sister and two step-sisters huddled together on the couch watching the ‘Hannah Montana Movie’. He rolled his eyes, and kept walking toward the kitchen. He pulled a water bottle out of the fridge, chugging half of it in one go. Relenting he went over to the living room standing behind the couch. Not wanting to fully commit to watching Miley Cyrus struggling to keep her secret a secret, he remained standing. He wasn’t really even watching, just staring blankly, thoughts flying around his head. He broke from his reverie when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. 

 

He turned his head to see Josh headed for the kitchen behind him. Tyler and Josh froze as they met each other's gaze. Tyler watched as Josh’s eyes widened and then looked down to the floor. He looked almost  _afraid._  He rounded the corner heading for the fridge and grabbing a vitamin water before bolting back towards the stairs. Tyler jumped into action quickly following close behind Josh who sped up upon hearing Tyler behind him. Tyler didn’t say anything just followed Josh back to their room, and when Josh made it inside he bee-lined for his bed. 

 

Tyler stopped near the entrance to the room and started to fidget slightly, wringing his hands and shuffling his feet. He fought the urge to just bolt out of the room and never come back. He opened his mouth a few times, trying to form words, but failing miserably. Josh sat on the end of his bed staring at the carpet as he sipped his drink. It was obvious he was waiting for Tyler to say something. So, Tyler sucked it up and straightened his back before saying what he needed to.

 

“Look.. Josh,” He started, wanting to get his attention, but Josh’s gaze remained on the floor. “I said some stuff last night that I didn’t even mean, and I’m really sorry. It’s a bit weird for me to be in such close quarters with a basic stranger, who really doesn’t seem to like me that much. It’s also a little weird to not be the only ‘older sibling’ anymore too,” He made air quotes with his hands while continuing his apology. “But with all things considered there are no excuses for what I said about your mom... about Laura. She has been really kind to all of us, and she seems to make my Dad really happy. So.. again.. I’m really sorry,” Tyler bit his lip nervously as he watched Josh’s reaction to his words. He looked like he was contemplating everything that Tyler said, and Tyler prayed that Josh believed him.

 

“...ok..,” Josh whispered. His voice came out broken, but there was a hint of understanding in his tone. Tyler tilted his head to try and find Josh’s eyes, but they were still distant. 

 

“Ok?” Tyler asked lightly. He wanted to make sure Josh forgave him. There was a bit of a pause as both of them fell silent, but after about a minute Josh looked up at him.

 

“Yeah.. ok.. I-I mean.. I accept your apology.” Josh said softly, almost a whisper. Tyler’s face morphed into a relieved grin. Eyes sparkling with hope as the late autumn sunset streamed in through their window. Tyler’s smile was so bright, so genuine that Josh was forced to return it with a broken version of his own upturned lips, eyes falling back to the carpet. Tyler took a deep breath as he realised he was holding it for a while, and then plopped down onto his own bed, leaning back and supporting his weight with his arms. 

 

“And dude.. I get that you were angry and stuff.. I mean I don’t blame you, but like.. Don’t ever leave and not come back in the middle of the night. Cause’ like.. I won’t sleep,” Tyler chuckled a bit lightening the mood. Even though Tyler meant it to be kind of playful, Josh snapped his head to look at Tyler with concern.

 

“I-I.. I’m s-sorry.. I didn’t think like.. I didn’t realize-” Josh stammered, looking mortified, but Tyler waved a hand cutting him off.

 

“No no, Josh it’s fine.. I’m just like saying.. For future reference,” Tyler beamed at that. “Because this is most likely the first of  _many_ fights,” Tyler tried to tame his smile, but gave up when he heard little giggles coming from Josh. “Like, where did you even go?”

 

“Oh.. I just.. I was at my Dad’s place,” Josh shrugged. His gaze had returned to the floor, and all signs of previous laughter were gone. Tyler was shocked by the answer. He didn’t even realize that Josh was still in contact with, or even _had a Dad_ , in the first place. Before Tyler could express his shock or question it, a shadow passed over Josh and the concern was written all over his face again. “Hey, how’s your head?”

 

“Oh, uh,” Tyler instinctively reached up to feel the bump, but it was starting to go down, so it was ok. “Yeah, I mean it hurts a bit, but it’s fine.. No worries,” Tyler shrugged, but ‘no worries’ was the complete opposite of what Josh was feeling at the moment and the shadow darkened as he appeared to be reprimanding himself. Tyler straightened his sitting position before attempting to rescue Josh from his thoughts. “Hey dude. Don’t worry about it, yeah? It was my fault anyway. I pushed you too far.” 

 

Josh just nodded in response, still looking upset with himself. At that moment Laura called everyone down for dinner. Taking the opportunity to move on, Tyler walked over to Josh and clapped a hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly, but refused to look up at Tyler.

 

“Come on _step-brother_. Let’s go have a family dinner together,” Tyler sassed. 

 

Josh just rolled his eyes and watched as Tyler walked over to their door, and held it open for him. He let out a laugh before finally getting up and exiting their room. As he passed Tyler he huffed out, “weirdo,” before heading downstairs. 

  
  


********************

  
  


Enchiladas. Laura had made enchiladas for dinner. Tyler freaking _loved_  enchiladas! Well, he liked any, and all Mexican/South American type foods, but these homemade enchiladas were temporarily curing his five year long depression. After greedily taking his fourth enchilada out of the dish, and preparing his body for inhaling yet another mouthful of tortilla and chicken he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Josh had actually ended up sitting next to him for dinner, and Tyler was glad some of the negative air between them was lifted. Although, having Zack scowling at him across the table did add a different kind of tension throughout the room, but Tyler just ignored it. Tyler turned to Josh just as he shoveled half his enchilada in his mouth. 

 

“Yuuahh?” Tyler attempted saying ‘yeah’ around the food in his mouth, but failed and bits of chicken and sauce flew out onto the table. Josh chuckled and made a high pitched ‘geeHEZz’ sound, before shaking his head and looking toward the rug under the dining table. 

 

“I-I wanted to a-ask you something..” Josh paused waiting for further acknowledgement. Tyler chewed his food and swallowed, took a sip of his water then twisted his whole body to face Josh, giving him his full attention. 

 

“Whats up?”

 

“It’s about our room.. Uh..” Josh paused squinting his eyes for a second before shaking his head letting a small laugh escape him. “Um.. Anyway. I was thinking the one corner right i-in front of the window.. Well i mean.. Were you, um, planning to put something there?” Josh struggled through his sentence stuttering every time he met Tylers gaze. Tyler smirked but quickly tried to hid it.

 

“Umm.. no I don’t think so. What were you thinking should go there?”

 

“Well, I-I was going to put my drum set there, b-but if you don’t want the drums in o-our room.. Umm.. Chris said i could set them up in the garage, maybe. It.. I mean.. It’s up to you.. I guess.” Josh looked perturbed. Tyler was shocked. He totally _forgot_  Josh played drums! He thought that was _awesome_!

 

“What? Dude.. _no_! Of _course_  you can set them up in our room! That will be _sick_! Could I set up my keyboard too? I don’t know how to play yet, but I really want to learn!” Tyler enthused. The smile that appeared on Josh’s face was something from a _movie_. His eyes crinkled up, and his tongue poked out of his teeth causing dimples to carve into his cheeks. It was unlike _any_  expression Tyler had ever seen on the boy. 

 

It was adorable! 

 

Tyler’s thoughts paused for a moment as he contemplated what caused his mind to produce the word ‘adorable’ in reference to Josh. But after thinking for a while he figured that he used to find certain things about Zack were adorable. Like how he would get upset after losing at Mario Kart so he’d pout and beg Tyler to just let him win _once_  because he knew he would _never_  beat him. 

 

_Yeah that must be it. His smile is adorable in a brotherly way_.

 

Tyler beamed at the idea of them getting along like real _brothers_  for a second before Josh was speaking again.

 

“Y-yeah! That would be cool. We could.. Like.. jam together.. Sometime,” Josh said through his unending smile.

 

“Dude.. Yes! And Abby can play her Ukulele!”

 

“Wha-.. Huh? I heard my name, and ‘ukulele’,” Abby said as her fork stopped in mid air.

 

“I was just saying that we should all play music together after I learn how to play piano!” Tyler filled her in. He turned back to his now cool enchilada and started shoveling it in once again.

 

“Who are you thinking will teach you Ty-guy?” Chris asked, now intrigued with the conversation.

 

“Umm, I was just going to teach myself.. Brendon told me that there are tons of youtube videos on it, so it shouldn’t be too hard, I mean I’m not trying to be Mozart or anything.” Tyler shrugged. Chris just nodded. The whole table just ate in silence for about two minutes before Chris was speaking again.

 

“Ya’know, I haven’t seen Bee in awhile. I don’t even think he’s met Laura,” He looked at Laura to confirm his inquiry. She just furrowed her eyebrows shaking her head, letting him know that he was right. “Yeah he’s Tyler's friend. Rough childhood, but a _really_  good kid!” Chris informed his wife. Tyler rolled his eyes at the description of his best friend, but didn’t say anything to contradict it. “You should invite him over this weekend Ty! Have him for dinner so he could meet the new fam! If that’s ok with you Laura?”

 

“Yeah of course!” Laura smiled at Tyler, winking at him. His stomach churned, but he ignored it. The reminder of the weekend made him think of the upcoming party that Jenna had invited him to. 

 

“Ok cool. I’ll ask him!” Tyler paused for second, then acting like a thought suddenly hit him. “Oh! Dad I totally forgot. A friend invited me to a party at Alum Creek on Saturday, and Brendon was hoping I’d go with him. It starts after dinnertime, so we could go from here after we eat.” Tyler was trying to sound as polite and encouraging as possible, but it seems Chris was more excited than he was on the matter.

 

“Really?! Oh, that’s _great_ Ty! Could any of the other kiddos go with?” Chris gestured to the table. Tyler looked around, thinking for a moment.

 

“Well, I was told it was a party specifically for our grade..,” Tyler drifted off, his eyes falling onto Josh’s blank expression. He seemed to just be listening to the conversation politely before becoming slightly confused as Tyler gave him a pointed look. “I mean, Josh could go, I don't think it matters if you’re home-schooled.” Tyler smirked as Josh blushed at the thought. Laura perked up, nodding enthusiastically. 

 

“Oh..uhh.. N-no, um.. Parties aren’t really.. Uh.. they aren’t really my thing..” Josh stammered since all the attention was suddenly placed on him. 

 

“That’s alright. When the time comes, and you change your mind you can always tag along. Right, Ty?” Chris smiled at Josh, reassuring him.

 

“Yeah, totally,” Tyler confirmed. He had a weird urge to ruffle Josh’s fading blue hair suddenly, but then shook his head to disperse the weird thought. 

 

“Wait, Tyler..” Chris sounding reprimanding, making Tyler curse whatever thought that popped into his father's mind. “Did you get that grade up in science?” Tyler physically relaxed. He didn’t know what he would have said if his dad asked if there was going to be alcohol, when Tyler was almost _positive_  there was going to be.

 

“Yeah.. yeah I got it up to a B. I did some extra credit.”

 

“Great! Then it’s all green lights for me! Laura? You ok with him going?” Laura looked shocked at Chris’s question. Her eyebrows flew up as she looked back and forth between Chris and Tyler. Tyler awaited her answer, not finding anything unusual in having to have her permission as well.

 

“Y-yeah it's fine with me!” She said finally, still a little taken off guard. Her expression sobered shortly after, though, and she turned towards Tyler. Concern and worry etched deep into her expression. “Just.. just promise you’ll be careful right? And _responsible_?” Tyler's heart sank. He nodded slightly, knowing her meaning. “H-how will you get there? Alum Creek is a bit far to walk.”

 

“Bee has a car. He’ll probably drive.”

 

“Ok. Just please..” she gave him one last pointed look, “be safe.”

  
  


********************

  
  


Laura's words echoed in his head as he washed the dirty plates and pans from dinner. They had a dishwasher, and yet Laura insisted on them working together to do all the dishes. He was on scrub duty tonight. Zack was standing barely two inches away from him rinsing the scrubbed dishes Tyler gave to him. Ashley was drying, and Josh was putting them away. Tyler could literally _f_ _eel_  the anger radiating from his brother. His slow deliberate movements set Tyler on edge, and he was freaking _done_  with Zack’s attitude. _'_ _Mom’ Tyler_ was being resurrected from a not-long-enough sleep as they finished up the last few dishes.

 

Zack wiped his hands on a towel and nearly bolted toward the living room before Tyler barked out his name, freezing Zack in his place. Ashley seemed concerned, but Josh knew a big blow out was going to happen so he guided his sister out of the kitchen, hushing her protests. When Zack didn’t turn around, Tyler tried again. 

 

“Zachary Michael Joseph! Look at me when I’m talking to you.” Zack turned so slowly it looked like he was a robot. His bone-chilling death glare almost made Tyler want to hide in a corner where no one will ever find him. He thought about just backing down and sending Zack to bed, but he fought those thoughts. “I need you to stop being angry with me.” Tyler said softly. Zack scoffed. Almost humored.

 

“Oh _really_? You _need_ me to stop being angry with you?” Tyler opened his mouth and was about to reprimand Zack for being such a jerk, but Zack continued. “You know what I need Tyler? _My old life back!_ ” His voice carried through the house a bit, but you could tell he was holding back, trying not to be so loud. Tyler was both glad and a bit afraid that everyone had went upstairs leaving them alone in the kitchen. Zack started speaking again this time counting on his fingers. “I accepted that Dad was getting married. I accepted that we were going to move out of our _home_. I also had accepted that our family was going to _double_ in size! But what I canNOT bring myself to accept is that my _brother_ , who I considered to be my _best friend_ , doesn’t even have the _slightest_ desire to share a room with me anymore. When, I thought that _at least_ Tyler and I will share a room, and _some_ things will be normal!’ But _no_! Nothing is ‘normal’,” Zack punctuated the last word with air quotes. Tyler was in a state of astonishment from how well Zack had read him. He felt bad, but he also felt annoyed by Zack. He was such a whiny baby. 

 

“Zack? What are you talking about? Things could have been way worse! We could have moved schools! States even! Things aren’t so bad. You are dwelling on such negative things. I’m sorry if you’re hurt that I needed some change, but I think things are going pretty well.. Well at least now they are..hopefully,” Tyler added, remembering his fight with Josh. But things were ok now… hopefully. Tyler shook his thoughts back into place. He walked up to Zack, and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to pay attention. “You have to focus on positive things, man! Look for the good in this situation. I love you bro… _so_ much! You have to know that right?” Tyler waited for his answer. Zack's eyes were red and puffy, harboring unshed tears. A look of pure _hatred_ flashed onto Zack's features, causing his tears to fall.

 

“I wish it were _you_ who died… instead of mom.”

 

Tyler’s blood ran cold, and boiling hot tears flooded his eyes. He felt his entire body shut down at Zack’s words. Zack just roughly shoved Tyler’s hands off him and fled to his room. Tyler stood there numb. He wished that too sometimes, but he was shattered to hear his brother say that to him. Tyler was feeling deep regret from his brothers words. His knees gave out, and he fell to the floor. He wasn’t crying necessarily, his tears just streamed down his face without any sign of stopping. No sound escaped his lips, and his breathing was very shallow. He was having a panic attack, and somewhere in the back of his mind he was telling himself it was his Karma for making fun of Josh’s anxiety the night before. Tyler didn’t know how long he sat there in the kitchen. Probably for hours, but he didn’t have the right mindset to care. Some invisible force got him off the ground, and his legs moved on their own towards his room. Upon finding his bed he crashed into it with a sob, and forced his mind to shut off, sending him into a fitful sleep.

  
  


********************

  
  


It was freezing out here in the woods. He didn’t know why he was all the way out here in the middle of a forest as snow dumped onto the ground. He felt shivers wracking his body. He gripped his at his clothes to bring him warmth, but he flinched as it only added ice to his frigid skin. He was wearing a big white winter coat that matched his entire surroundings. His black jeans were nearly invisible since the snow continued to build up around his legs. He felt a warm beanie over his ears, but everything else on his body made him cold. He tried to move around, but his feet were buried too deep into the snow.

 

Out of the corner of his eye a movement came from behind the trees. The figure blended with their surroundings all except for a bright glowing red beanie sitting atop his head. As the figure got closer Tyler started to identify the guy as himself. Tyler’s stomach sank and another violent shiver ran down his spine as he got closer. Tyler tried to move again, but the snow was at his mid thigh, and he was sufficiently stuck. Wind whipped across his face. He felt numb, and helpless. The other Tyler seemed scared as well, getting closer and closer with worry and fear in his brown eyes.

 

“Hey, its ok..” His voice was familiar and foreign at the same time, and Tyler felt sheer terror as the copy reached into his coat. He was slow and deliberate, staring at Tyler, setting him on edge. Gradually the copy’s eyes turned from mocha brown to scarlet, causing Tyler to start digging his legs out, but the snow was ice now. Solid block of ice trapping him in place. A smirk grew onto the other Tyler’s lips making his evil appearance ten million times scarier. Tyler started punching the ice, trying anything to free himself to no avail. “Don’t worry..” he cooed. “It  will all be over in a second..” He smiled viciously as he pulled out a gun from his coat. “It won’t even hurt.” He pointed the gun right at Tyler’s head. Tyler stopped fighting, and accepted his fate. He closed his eyes and forced himself to find peace in the freezing forest.

 

Before the copy could pull the trigger, though, a heavy warm hand fell onto Tyler’s shoulder. Tyler jerked his head toward the hand, and saw it was attached to a man who also wore a big bulky white coat. Tyler couldn’t identify him at first, but his hair was a blazing red. Tyler squinted through the snowfall, and could barely see that the man behind him looked a lot like _Josh_. His face looked concerned and heartbroken. 

 

“Tyler…..” His voice was soft and gentle. Tyler could feel the world around him slipping away. He stared into the red-haired Josh’s eyes, feeling warmth return to him. “....wake up.”

 

Tyler opened his eyes only to be met with Josh’s again. This time his real ones, and his hair was back to sky blue. Tyler could feel that he had been sweating, and realized that he was probably having one of his infamous nightmares and woke Josh up. Josh retreated from Tyler who never uttered a word, and silently returned to his own bed. Tyler was embarrassed, but also immensely grateful. If his dream would have continued he probably would have woken up screaming. Waking the entire household as well. Tyler shut his eyes again but knew he wouldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. He opened his eyes and stared out the window watching the moon rise. Minutes later a single snowflake landed on the glass, melting as soon as it made contact. Tyler felt a shiver of fear bolt through every nerve in his body.

 

Winter was coming.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol.. that ending tho.. 
> 
> Ok so for the life of me I could not find Zack's middle name, and I did some extensive research.. do any of y'all know it? If you do I'll change it XD ... Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be soon!


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